Tammie Pond and how she came to be
by GlitterLizard
Summary: After the planets appeared in the sky, Tammie met the Doctor. However, he already knew her due to her mysteriously appearing in his past. Her future self is in danger and the Doctor doesn't know if he can get to her in time. He tries his darndest to make sure she will be safe, but in the end, not all moments in time can be rewritten. This is how she became, 'The girl who survived.'
1. Massive, metal, mantarays

**Hi, reviews are always appreciated. :3**

 **EDIT: I've basically rewritten this chapter, because I wasn't happy with it, so check it out if you want. :)**

* * *

Alyssa Winters and Tammie Stanfield. Best friends since the first year of Secondary school. They were in college together, both for art, and they lived together in a flat, in Brixton, London. They spent almost every waking moment together. If Tammie ever imagined what it would be like to have a sister, she would envision it would be like her relationship with Alyssa. She was her rock. Whenever she would have a panic attack or her anxiety would kick in for no reason at all, she would be there to help her through it. Whenever she was upset, she knew just what to say or do to make her feel better again. In return, she did the same for Alyssa. They knew each other like the backs of their hands. She didn't know what she would ever do without her... but she found out. She found that she could barely cope. Until that is, the Doctor entered her life, but that would come later, like a lot of things.

It had been eight months, eighteen days since the planets appeared in the sky, and those... _things_ had arrived to rake havoc on the world. Eight months since Alyssa died. No... Eight months since Alyssa was _murdered_ by that thing that called itself a Dalek. She was gone, and Tammie didn't know what to do, other than carry on without her. She just did her usual routine. That's all she could do. She dropped out of college a few months back, so there wasn't a distraction there, or anywhere for that matter.

For the first few weeks, she hid away in her flat, just grieving over the loss of her only friend. Reality soon hit her in the face though, and she knew she had to go to work, otherwise, she would end up out on the streets. Her job was at the Greenleaf cafe, down town. It was difficult working there, after what happened. Most times she was there, another memory would pop up of Alyssa. They spent most of their time there, after all. Be it when they both worked there, or when they had homework to do, or if they were just simply hanging out. It was their meet up place after school, and their place of escape when they were cooped up in their flat for too long.

The cafe was run by Alyssa's parents, Rob and Ashley. She hated the way they would look at her after Alyssa's death. The glares and the side eyes, the hatred and the disappointment. It made her feel sick. The two people, who once called her family, _despised_ her. They blamed her for their daughter's death, of course, they would. Tammie was alive, but their little girl wasn't. She _understood_ that. _She_ blamed herself for it as well. The Dalek was after her, after all... Yet they still let her work there. _That_ was something she didn't understand.

One of the most constant thoughts in her mind was that she had to find another job. Another place to live. That she couldn't stay there anymore. It was hurting her _so_ damn much. She had lived in that area for her whole life, ever since she was brought to the orphanage, near by, as a baby. Her whole life was there, that's why she had to move. She couldn't take walking past the park, that they spent time together as teens. She couldn't take staying in the same flat, that she had once shared with her best friend. She couldn't take the looks that Alyssa's parents, Alyssa's other friends, or anyone that ever knew her, gave her anymore. It was the same faces over, and over again. Their expressions filled with hatred, or distaste, or fake concern. It was killing her, and she didn't know how long she could take it.

* * *

That day was like any other day, but that's always the way, isn't it? To her at the time, the only thing different about that day was... well, it was her last day working at the Greenleaf cafe. She felt a little bit of weight lift off her shoulders as she gave Ashley her resignation two weeks prior, but she still felt exhausted. She still had to find another job and another flat somewhere, which just added more stress.

Tammie exhaled roughly as she thought about it, and put her apron on one of the hooks, for the final time. As she passed Rob, to go and get her things before she left, she could feel him glaring at her, but she just ignored him as she usually did. When she got to her locker, she quickly put on her dark green safari jacket, and her black finger-less gloves then made her way to the exit. She let out a sigh of relief as she left, and didn't bother to turn around to look back at the building, that held so many memories for her.

It was around seven thirty at night, as she made her way home. It was dark, but the many lights from the buildings, cars, and street lamps made up for that. She reached into her pocket, pulled out her MP3 player and earphones, put one in each ear, and hit play. Music filled her ears and she felt herself relax a little, though it didn't last long.

Her stomach started to growl, and her legs and head began to ache, as she made her way through the streets of London. _Right... I haven't had anything to eat since breakfast... or was that yesterday?_ She didn't really care all that much though. Eating was the least of her problems, at the moment.

 _Great, I'll have to take the bus. Don't really feel like passing out in the street right now._ She sighed through her nose and closed her eyes for just a second, when her shoulder bumped into a strangers arm, "Sorry. Wasn't looking where I was going." She apologised as she glanced up at the man's face, which was contorted into confusion, and then an expression she couldn't quite read. _At least he isn't angry or insulting me like some people would._ She smiled as best as she could, which ended up more like a grimace, and turned back in the direction she was headed, yet only took one step forward. _Maybe he would know? Better to ask than look like a_ complete _idiot._ She turned again, feeling slightly dizzy as she did so, pulled one earphone out, so she could concentrate on what he was going to say, and spoke, "Hey, sorry to bother you and all," The man that she had bumped into hadn't seemed to have moved, he was just sort of... staring at her, "but... could you tell me which bus it is to get the closest to the Oak estate? I'm kind of terrible at that stuff. Aly-" Tammie stopped herself short, as she realised what she was saying. _Aly always knew which bus to take, knew it so I didn't have to bother. Another little thing that she would do_ _so I wouldn't stress out as much. This guy doesn't need, or want, to know about all of that._ She shook her head slightly, and apologised again, "Sorry, never mind."

She went to turn around again, when the stranger in the bow tie stopped her, by gently placing a hand on her shoulder, with a concerned look in his eyes, "Hey, no, it's okay T-" This time it was him who cut himself off, with a small clearing of his throat, "It's... it's bus _200_ you should take. Great bus really. Superb bus!" He let out a quiet 'ha' as he stared at her with a grin, before he clapped his hands together and peered over his shoulder, spotting said 'superb bus'. To Tammie, it looked like he might have seen something or _someone_ else, from the way he sputtered out a goodbye, "Ah, here's your bus now. Gotta dash, but see you soon," he grinned once again, but only for a split second as if he realised something. He started to wave his hands about as he continued, "Uh, maybe I mean, you know... small world... and all that lovely jazz." He did some jazz hands just to add an effect to it, which made her lip quirk up ever so slightly, without her realising. He did notice though. He gave her a cheery smile, before he, once again, peered over his shoulder.

 _"_ Thank you, and, uh, yeah. See ya." She paused as she noticed something. She didn't really know why she said it, but she did, "Uh, nice bow tie by the way." _It kind of suits him._ The floppy haired man gave her a goofy grin, and adjusted said bow tie, with a quiet, almost fond, laugh. She couldn't help but smile back, which surprised her. She hadn't smiled properly in months. She had faked plenty of smiles, but sometimes she didn't even have the energy to do that. She tried time and time again to smile genuinely, but she just didn't have it in her. She even watched comedy shows to try and lift her spirits up, and not even a quirk of the lip appeared, but a stranger in a bow tie... _that's_ what was finally able to make her smile properly. Then again, she always did see the good stuff in the little things. Seeing someone else happy, or proud of themselves... it made her happy. _One step at a time, I guess._

The double-decker bus pulled up just a couple feet from where they were stood, and with the smile that had lessened slightly, she said goodbye to the slightly strange, but kind, stranger one more time, before making her way over to the big red bus.

She didn't know it, but as she hopped aboard, the strange man smiled at her fondly and whispered to himself, "Don't you worry, Tammie. You'll feel more like yourself soon," He sighed, with a smile, and turned to head back to the Tardis with a small chuckle that escaped his lips, "Tammie Pond. The incredible, wonderful, Tammie Pond. Oh, the places you'll go... The girl who survived." He grinned once more, before he entered those famous blue doors.

Just as Tammie obtained herself a seat, near the back of the bus, a taller woman than herself, with dark long hair, came onboard. She didn't pay all that much attention to the people around her, or when the woman sat in the seat in front of her, she just focused on the music that was playing in her left ear, having turned it down a bit on her MP3 player, and watched as people passed by in the street. Her thoughts were occupied by that stranger. _He seemed to be nervous, but happy at the same time_ , _so... havous... nerppy...? Whatever._ She scrunched her nose up at herself. _He was weird, sure, but it was almost as if he knew me... Kind of like a proud teacher or something, at least if the look in his eyes is anything to go by... Speaking of his eyes, they looked old, like he has definitely been through the ringer a couple of times._

As she leaned her head against the window, with her brows furrowed, confused in whatever was going through her head, a man in a trench coat had sat down next to the woman in front of her, just as the bus started moving, and said something that made _her_ nervous... _Very_ nervous. "Hello, I'm the Doctor. Happy Easter." He exclaimed, with a grin on his face, as Tammie could feel her throat close up and her eyes widen. She willed herself to stay calm as she continued to stare out of the window. _That's what that_ thing _said. The Doctor... It can't be... Right?_

* * *

 _Tammie's voice came out as a whisper, 'Y-you... you just... What?' She shook her head, as she tried to think, but that was impossible for her at that moment, given what had just happened. 'H-how do you know my name?'_

 _'You know the Doctor! You are Tammie Stanfield!' The Dalek spoke, as Tammie's panic went sky high, and their words overlapped each other._

 _'A-and y-you just shot her... Why? Why would you do that?!' She screamed, as tears poured out of her eyes. It didn't feel real. None of it felt real._

 _'Daleks do not answer humans! You know the Doctor!' It aimed its weapon at her again, and demanded an answer, 'Where?! Where is he?! Where is the TimeLord?!' Its voice increased in volume, and sounded more screechy, as it continued._

 _'I-I don't know what you're talking about. I don't know any doctors...' She looked over at Alyssa, seeing her just lay there, eyes closed, like she was peacefully asleep, but she knew she wasn't. 'Aly... A-Alyssa... P-please... Please, don't be d-dead, please... Y-you can't be...' She whispered, as the Dalek scanned her before it spoke again._

 _'No...' It said darkly, 'But you will!' It then flew back out of the, now smashed, window it came through, and left Tammie alone. She slowly fell to the ground next to her only friend, her only_ family _in the universe, and wept uncontrollably. It didn't feel real to her, but she knew it was._

 _When the world moved once again and was put back into place, she didn't cheer like everyone else, she just cried and held on to the only person who mattered to her. The only person who ever gave a damn about her._

* * *

"How about you, do you want some?" The man leaned over the seat, with a half-eaten chocolate egg in his hands, and a grin. His eyes were shining like a kid's at Christmas would, though she didn't really know what that was like personally.

Tammie looked over at him, with hesitant eyes, and quietly declined the offer, even if she was starving, before she looked back out at the city of Brixton again. She didn't see, but his face fell slightly, before he turned back to the other woman, and started a conversation with her. _Stop it. That thing could have been on about any kind of doctor. Just calm down._ She sighed quietly, as one of her hands reached up to rub her left shoulder, a nervous habit of hers, which the Doctor noticed out the corner of his eye.

"The funny thing is, I don't often do Easter. I can never find it. It's always at a different time. Although, I remember the original. Between you and me, what really happened was-" Suddenly, a beeping could be heard, and she glanced over at him, "Oh, sorry, hold on to that for me," he said, as he passed over his chocolate egg to the lady next to him, "Actually, go on, have it. Finish it. It's full of sugar and I'm determined to keep these teeth." _Okay..._ She shook her head minutely as she continued to stare out the window, when her ears perked up. She could hear sirens, but it was pretty normal being in the city, so she just ignored it. He pulled out a device of some sort, with a bunch of little lights, from his coat pocket, and then continued talking, "Ah. Oh, we've got excitation. I'm picking up something very strange." He lifted the device to his ear, and Tammie glanced at him with curious, sea foam green eyes, before setting them back on the scenes that passed them by outside.

The woman sitting next to him looked slightly nervous, peeked out the window, and muttered something under her breath that Tammie didn't hear. She glanced at the both of them, out the corner of her eye, as she wondered what the device he held in his hands was. It didn't exactly look like something someone would just carry around with them.

The bus entered a tunnel when the spiky haired man started to talk again. "Rhondium particles, that's what I'm looking for. This thing detects them. Look, this should go round, that little dish there." _What particles? What's he on about?_ She thought to herself. She couldn't help but over hear what they were saying, considering they were right in front of her, and they weren't exactly speaking quietly. Anyway, it was a good distraction from other things that were on her mind.

"Right now, a way out would come in pretty handy. Can you detect me one of those?" _Ah, so those sirens are after you then?_

"Ah, the little dish is going round." _Good for you, sir._

"Fascinating." _Oh, was that a hint of sarcasm I hear?_ Her inner thoughts for their conversation almost made her chuckle, now _that_ would be a surprise.

The little dish suddenly began to spin faster. "And round. Whoa." The device sparked, which made her jump in her seat a little.

The man stood up, as a lady at the front of the bus said something, and he apologised. Tammie was more focused on whatever that thing did, or was _supposed_ to do anyway. "Can't you turn that thing off?" The woman in front of her voiced, before he turned to face her, and asked for her name. "Christina."

"Christina," He glanced at the brunette sitting behind her, before he continued, "Tammie, hold on tight. Everyone, hold on!" He shocked her with what he said, but she wasn't able to question him, as there was a sudden jolt that sent everyone flying. Tammie tried her best to hang onto the railing in front of her, as the windows shattered, sparks flew, and a bright light appeared. Someone from upstairs fell down to the bottom floor, and everyone was shouting or screaming. The light increased in brightness until it just stopped.

She was still in her seat but was also definitely panicking. _What the hell just happened? How does he know my name?_ Questions and flashbacks about that day kept appearing in her mind, and she felt like she couldn't breathe, but at the same time, she felt like she was breathing a little too much. She felt her heart beat rapidly against her rib cage and could feel her hands trembling, as they held onto the railing in front of her. Something she knew all too well as a panic attack. It wasn't her first since Alyssa's death, nor would it be her last, but it still felt horrible each and every time it happened. At least when Alyssa was alive she would be there to help her through it and make it less troublesome. Now though... she didn't have anyone.

The Doctor, who had stood up by now, noticed they were definitely not in London anymore and was curious to find out where they were. Before he did though, he saw Tammie, with her hands still gripped to the railing, so tight that her nails were digging into her palms, and her head down facing the floor, breathing far too fast for his liking. He moved towards her, as most of the others left the bus, going to take a look at where they were. He bent down next to her, with a frown, and placed a hand on her back, which she flinched at. "Tammie, you have to slow down your breathing, okay? In and out. In and out. That's it. Keep going." He stated calmly, trying to get her breaths back to a regular pace.

She knew she had to listen to him, otherwise, it would take longer for the panic to subside, so she took in breaths as slowly as she could, thinking about how Alyssa would calm her whenever she had them in the past. He rubbed small circles into her back, as she calmed down a bit, whispering to her that it was going to be okay. After a moment, she lifted her head up, and gently let go of the railing, but she still wasn't quite ready to look at him yet. "H-how do you know my name?" She asked, shakily, still trying to get her head in order. Not 'where are we?' or 'what the hell just happened?' but 'how do you know my name?' was the most prominent question at the front of her mind at that moment. She turned her head to face him, and he really didn't like how terrified she looked.

He looked into her eyes, and she noticed that they seemed old... very old, but kind. She thought they looked similar to the stranger she met, which confused her as they looked nothing alike. He sighed gently and gave her a comforting smile. "It's a long story. I'll tell you later, okay? Promise. Let's just find out where we are first, hm?" She still looked afraid, but she nodded slowly. He smiled at her, helped her up, and guided her off the bus.

When she saw the sand and the three Suns in the sky, she felt like she was going to faint. Although that could've been the dehydration, and lack of food talking.

The Doctor's voice seemed to startle everyone out of their stupors as he said, "End of the line. Call it a hunch, but I think we've gone a little bit further than Brixton." _No way, I would've never of guessed._ She winced, as her brain tried to get caught up with what was happening. The Doctor patted her back, and walked a little ways away from the rest of the group, with Christina following after him, curiosity laced in her eyes.

After another minute of being in complete awe of it all, the lady with the short blonde hair, who was previously sitting at the front of the bus, spoke up, "It's impossible. There are three Suns. Three of 'em." Tammie could feel her headache getting worse, as her legs started to sway.

 _Why? Why did it have to be today, and why did it have to be this bus?_ She wasn't exactly surprised in a sense. A lot of strange things had happened on Earth, some quite recently, others not. The ATMOS devices in everyone's cars that released toxic gas. The Sun going funny a couple years previous. The ghosts that turned out to be metal men a year before that, and the past Christmas'... Oh, the past Christmas'... The Titanic falling from the sky the year before. The massive star-like web thing shooting at the city below. The massive spaceship in the sky where about a third of Earth's population was hypnotised into almost killing themselves, who were all A positives... Alyssa included... Earth was a hotspot for aliens and things to go wrong...

"Like when all those planets were up in the sky." A young man said all of a sudden. A chill went up her spine at the mention of that day, and her eyes locked onto the Doctor. He was on the ground picking up some sand and observing it. He glanced in her direction and she quickly turned her head away from him, as she instantly grabbed her left shoulder. _It can't be him, right?_

"But it was the Earth that moved back then, wasn't it?" Another young guy said, the one that fell down the stairs.

"Oh man, we're on another world." The other guy replied.

Tammie sighed, as she glanced around. She was taking in her surroundings, but not getting much information about the place, considering there was just sand everywhere. _Oh, joy... I mean it_ is _amazing and all, but... This can't be good, right? One minute we're in London, the next... who the hell knows? I don't see anything other than sand._ She thought as she glanced around again, still nervous about everything that was going on at that moment. Her eyes always seemed to go back to the Doctor every so often.

The bus driver said something, but Tammie wasn't paying attention to him and the other passengers, as she was more focused on the Doctor. She just kept thinking about the same few things over and over, again and again. That day. How did he know her? And how much her head hurt. She grabbed her left shoulder more tightly as it started hurting as well. It always hurt, but more so now for some reason. Ever since she could remember, her left shoulder had hurt her. It was a pain she could deal with though, most of the time she barely noticed it. It was just... there... and it was an almost fuzzy feeling sometimes.

As she was lost in her own thoughts, the young man saw the Doctor and Christina a small ways away. "Hold on a minute. I saw you, mate." Barclay started, which pulled Tammie back into what was happening, and looked over at the two, who were now wearing sunglasses and standing, "You had that thing, that machine. Did you make this happen?"

"Oh, humans on buses always blaming me." He complained but put his hands up. "Look, look, if you must know, I was tracking a hole in the fabric of reality. Call it a hobby." _That's a pretty weird hobby..._ "But it was a tiny little hole. No danger to anyone. Suddenly it gets big, and we drive right through it." He replied, looking at the bus.

"But then where is it? There's nothing. There's just sand." The bus driver stated, glancing around the place. _He's got you there._

Still massaging her shoulder, she followed everyone, as the Doctor walked to his right, and picked up a handful of the sand that was all around them. "All right. You want proof? We drove through this." He threw the sand in his hand in front of him, and a transparent wibbly thing appeared for a moment before it faded. It was like when someone threw a pebble on a lake, and it skipped across the water. Only vertical, and a lot bigger.

Christina questioned what she had just seen, though she was definitely calm about it, "And that's?"

"A door. A door in space." He stated.

"Like a wormhole?" Tammie asked, not so sure of herself. That's what it sounded like to her anyway, she had watched her fair share of sci-fi films after all.

The Doctor grinned at her, "Exactly. Except not 'like' but _is."_ She pouted ever so slightly, but quickly stopped, hoping he didn't notice, but he did. _Smarty pants._ And he definitely knew that he was by the way he gave her a cheeky grin.

The bus driver spoke up rather excitedly, and walked towards the Doctor, "So what you're saying is, on the other side of that is home? We can get to London through there?"

"The bus came through, but we can't." _Well yeah, the bus is proof enough for that._ She thought as she glanced back at it. It was barely holding together from what it looked like, and almost the whole top floor of the bus was crushed, like someone had dropped a container on it or something.

The driver either ignored what he said completely or didn't process it properly, because he then started to head for the wormhole while saying, "Well then, what are we waiting for?" The Doctor tried to stop him, but he didn't listen, "I'm going home, mate!"

"No, I said don't!" He shouted, but he was too late, as he walked through it.

All they could hear was his screams of pain and saw him briefly burning, just seeing his bones, then nothing. Just bones... like when that Dalek shot Alyssa, and she saw her skeleton for a few seconds before she collapsed on the floor in front of her. _No... no, no, no, no, no..._

She was barely listening to what everyone was saying around her. She was just staring straight ahead at the portal, stepping back a few paces, as her vision started to blur and darken, and her head went spinning out of control until she passed out. Thankfully, someone caught her before she fell.

* * *

Tammie woke up on the bus with a small groan. She gently sat herself up and gripped her head, which didn't appreciate her getting up apparently, and turned to see everyone's eyes were on her. _Well, that's not creepy or nerve racking, even if they do look concerned._ "Uh... Hi." She barely got out of her mouth, before she cleared her throat.

"Seems that sleeping beauty's awake. I'll go over the points I've already said with you later. You've only been out for ten minutes, so you haven't missed much." Christina stated, making her confused, but she nodded anyway. _Who put you in charge? Points? What is she, a drill sergeant?_

She kept talking, as the Doctor leaned over the seat from behind her, and passed her a water bottle and a granola bar. _Where did he get them from?_ "Here, you're dehydrated, those Suns, the heat, and..." He trailed off, as he studied her face, "When was the last time you slept?" He asked, out of nowhere quietly, trying not to disturb Christina's speech. She just stared at him blankly, as she tried to get her head into gear. Why would he ask her _that_?

Although, she'd only been getting a few hours a night, sometimes every other night, these past eight months. She had even passed out on the sofa when she got home from work a few times. She was exhausted, but she never wanted to sleep. The nightmares she would have always kept her awake anyway.

What confused her though, was the concerned look he was giving her. Sure, people would be concerned that someone had just fainted, but he was looking at her like she would fall apart at any second. She almost did. She had been bottling everything up, not being able to tell anyone how she felt, not being able to have a shoulder to cry on, and for someone to tell her that everything was going to be okay. It was all on the tip of her tongue. Just something about the look on his face... It made her want to tell him everything, how scared she really was, but she stopped herself and turned to look at the front of the bus. Though she still continued their conversation.

"Last night." _Lie._ "I'm fine, I just... I've had a bit of a weird day, being on another planet and all." _Partial lie._ He just hummed, with furrowed brows, and sat back in his seat, with his feet up, glancing out the window. _Why does he care anyway?_ She took a sip of the water he gave her, put the granola bar in one of her jacket pockets, which laid on the seat next to her, _someone obviously took it off me to cool me down a bit_ , and then concentrated on the woman standing at the head of the bus.

"Point five. The crucial thing is, do not panic." _Yeah, 'cause that's definitely not happening._ "Quite apart from anything else, the smell of sweat inside this thing is reaching atrocious levels." _I'm guessing that's the three Suns beating down on us, mixed with the panicking, no?_ She had gotten very sarcastic lately. "We don't need to add anymore. Point six. Team identification. Names. I'm Christina." She then pointed over towards the Doctor, "This man is apparently the Doctor." Who smiled with a 'hello'. "And you?" She asked, glancing at the young guy near her, who waved with a nervous smile.

"Nathan." He stated, which began everyone introducing themselves.

"I'm Barclay."

"Angela. Angela Whittaker."

"My name's Louis. Everyone calls me Lou. And this is Carmen."

She then turned to Tammie. "Sleeping Beauty?"

"Jeez, you collapse one time." She muttered, causing the Doctor to snicker before he skillfully covered it with a cough. She didn't look back at him, but she could feel her lip twitch up, ever so slightly. "Tammie. Tammie Stanfield." She stated, with a fake, but what she hoped looked like a genuine, smile.

"Is that short for Tamitha or Tamara?" Christina asked, curiously.

She wrinkled her nose slightly, thinking back to how one of the adults at the orphanage constantly used to call her Tamitha, in that screechy tone of hers. That woman was always pissed, no matter what anyone did to try and make her happy. "No, it's just... it's always been, Tammie." She replied, though grimaced shortly after, "Please don't call me Tamitha..." She murmured, under her breath. The Doctor heard, however, and smirked, as he stared out the window, recalling when she told him about that same woman a long while ago.

Christina just smiled, and continued, "Noted. Excellent. Memorise those names. There might be a test. Point seven. Assessment and application of knowledge. Over to you, the Doctor."

The Doctor, who was still looking out the broken window, turned his head at the sound of his name. "I thought you were in charge?"

"I am. And a good leader utilises her strength. You seem to be the brain box. So, start boxing." She grinned. _Nice play on words..._

At those same words, he jumped up on the back of his seat, and explained, "Right. So, the wormhole. We were in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was just an accident."

Carmen suddenly spoke up, as she pointed a finger behind her, "No, it wasn't. That thing, the doorway? Somebody made it for a reason."

"How do you know?" He asked with a curious tone, and she seemed to go a bit shy, but Lou looked at her proudly.

"She's got a gift. Ever since she was a little girl, she can just tell things. We do the lottery twice a week."

Christina gave them a look. "You don't look like millionaires."

"No, but we win ten pounds. Every week, twice a week, ten pounds. Don't tell me that's not a gift." _That's so sweet and modest._ Tammie smiled ever so slightly at the thought.

"Tell me, Carmen. How many fingers am I holding up?" The Doctor asked, putting his hand behind his back, with three fingers up.

"Three." He then changed it to four. "Four." Tammie's eyebrows raised in surprise. _Wow. Awesome! A real-life psychic!_

"Very good. Low-level psychic ability, exacerbated by an alien sun?" He then plopped back down in his seat, facing her. "What can you see, Carmen? Tell me, what's out there?"

Her expression shifted. She was scared, almost terrified. "Something, something is coming. Riding on the wind, and shining."

"What is it?"

"Death. Death is coming." That sentence put everyone into a panic. Tammie though, strangely enough, remained calm. She just stared blankly at the floor. She realised she didn't care if she died there. She didn't have anyone back home. The only person who _would_ care would be her landlord because he wouldn't get that week's rent. But then she looked around and saw the people who were scared out their wits. They had families, most probably anyway, and friends who _would_ care. _We've got to get back. Somehow. We've got to._ She looked in front of her, where Angela was starting to cry. She frowned, leaned forward, and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, Angela, we are going to get home, okay? Somehow we will." She whispered to her, as the terrified woman just looked at her with disbelieve. She gave it all she had to give her a smile. _Alyssa was always the one that was better at comforting people... God dammit stop._ Just then the Doctor spoke up.

"Alright now, stop it. Everyone stop it!" His voice raised slightly to get everybody's attention, then when everybody had stopped, he moved to be in front of Angela, who was still crying. He gave Tammie a small smile, who was rubbing small circles on the woman's back, before he spoke again. "Angela, look at me. Angela? Angela? Answer me one question, Angela. That's it. At me, at me. There we go. Angela, just answer me one thing. When you got on this bus, where were you going?"

"Doesn't matter now, does it?" She said dismissively.

"Answer the question." He said calmly.

"Just home." She stated.

"And what's home?" He questioned.

"Me and Mike. And Suzanne. That's my daughter. She's eighteen."

"Suzanne. Good." He then moved back to his seat, as Tammie patted her shoulder gently, before sitting back herself, seeing that she had calmed down a small bit. "What about you?" He asked, aiming the question at Barclay.

"Don't know. Going round Tina's." He said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Who's Tina? Your girlfriend?"

"Not yet." He replied with a grin, and the Doctor gave him one back.

"Good boy. What about you, Nathan?"

"Bit strapped for cash. I lost my job last week. I was going to stay in and watch TV."

"Brilliant. And you two?" He asked the couple on the seat opposite his own.

"I was going to cook." Lou started.

"It's his turn tonight. Then I clear up." Carmen finished.

"What's for tea?" He asked curiously, as Tammie glanced at him with confusion in her eyes.

"Chops. Nice couple of chops and gravy. Nothing special."

"Oh, that special, Lou. That is so special. Chops and gravy, Mmm." He said getting distracted, and then faced Tammie. "Tammie?"

She didn't know where he was going with all of it, but went along with it anyway, "Just coming home from my last day at work. I was just gonna play some video games or something."

"Ooh, love a good video game." He said, with a goofy smile, which made her lip twitch up again. "What about you, Christina?"

"I was going... so far away." She said almost disappointingly. _Well, you got your wish. Pretty sure we're not even in our solar system anymore._

"Far away. Chops and gravy. Watching TV. Video games. Mike and Suzanne, and poor old Tina." He recited, glancing at Barclay with a hint of amusement in his eyes at the last one.

"Hey!" Barclay said, with a laugh.

"Just think of them. Because that planet out there, all three Suns, wormholes and alien sand, that planet is nothing. You hear me? Nothing, compared to all those things waiting for you. Food and home and people. Hold on to that, because we're going to get there. I promise. I'm going to get you home." He held each of everyone's gazes before he settled on looking at Tammie, who dropped her gaze after a moment. _Okay, he has definitely done this before. He just gave these people hope... he just gave_ me _hope._ There was a pause, his words sinking into everyone's minds, before he quickly spoke again,"Right then, plan time. We need to get this bus to back up and reverse it into the wormhole. You two, tear off of a couple of seats and bring them out." He said, pointing to Barclay and Nathan, then looked over at Angela with a smile. "Angela, mind driving?" With that, he jumped up, glanced at Tammie with the same smile, and walked out the bus. Christina was hot on his tail, shortly followed by a curious Tammie, who grabbed her jacket and put it over her arm.

The Doctor quickly went to the back of the bus and had a look at the tyres, as Tammie stood next to Christina and took a sip of her water. "How are you feeling?" She asked the smaller brunette.

Tammie glanced up at Christina, then back down, "Uh, yeah, fine. A small headache, but I can deal with it." She then turned to the Doctor. "Thanks, for the water and granola bar by the way... Where did you get them from?" She asked, with her brows furrowed.

"Oh, you know, I always carry some, just in case." He gave her a small grin, which the two ladies both raised an eyebrow to, but didn't say anything more about it.

Tammie then asked Christina if she could hold her bottle, and jacket for a second, while she re-did her ponytail, as it had come loose earlier on. "I feel like I'm a personal coat rack today, with all the holding I'm doing."

She just gave her a small smile. _This is the most I've smiled in a long time. Must be the people. I haven't spoken to anyone other than customers at the cafe, and that's never exactly a conversation. "_ Sorry." She waved her off though, as she passed her back her things. The Doctor glanced at them, looking like he was going to speak, before Barclay and Nathan came out, with parts of a couple of seats from the back of the bus.

"Here we go." Barclay said as he stepped out. The Doctor walked over to them and took the one from him.

"That's my boys! See, we lay a flat surface between the bus and the wormhole, like duckboards, and we reverse into it." He explained, passing the one he was holding to Nathan, who went and did just that.

Christina turned to Barclay, "Let some air out of the tyres. Just a little bit. It spreads the weight of the bus, gives you more grip against the sand."

The Doctor pointed at her. "Oh, that's good." _Yeah, that_ is _good._ The three of them looked at her impressed.

"Holidays in the Kalahari." She explained.

"Yeah, but those wheels go deep." Barclay pointed out, extending the word 'deep'.

"Then start digging." _With what?_ Tammie thought, as Barclay expressed the same thing. Christina then opened her backpack, and pulled out a small shovel, as Nathan came back over. "With this." She stated, passing it to the Doctor, who then passed it to Barclay, who grinned.

"Got anything else in there?" The Doctor asked curiously, sharing a look with Tammie. She then pulled out an axe. _Okay... Please don't tell me she's a murderer or something... Then again that axe is a little on the small side... Then again, it could still probably kill someone..._

"Try that." She said as she passed it to Nathan. "It might help with the seats." He smiled, as he gave her a 'thanks' then headed towards the door.

The Doctor looked her up and down before Angela called out. "I can't find the keys!"

As the Doctor rushed off to tell her that buses don't have keys, Tammie questioned Christina, while she took another sip of her drink. "So, you an archaeologist, or something?"

She smirked at her. "Or something."

"As long as you're not a murderer, then you're okay with me." She said, starting to wonder if she actually was.

Christina laughed a little before saying, "Don't worry. I wouldn't hurt a fly." Tammie just smiled, relieved, as the bus let out an awful sound. _Ooh, somethings wrong with the engine._ The Doctor came back over to them, and they headed for the back of the bus.

As the Doctor lifted the hatch up, a small bit of smoke came out, and Tammie cringed as she saw the engine was covered in sand. "Oh, never mind losing half the top deck. You know what's worse?" He asked but didn't wait for an answer. "Sand. Tiny little grains of sand. The engine's clogged up."

Christina walked around to the side and asked, "Anyone know mechanics?"

Barclay got up from where he was digging the front left wheel out of the sand, and stated, "Me. I did a two week NVQ at the garage. Never finished it but-"

The Doctor interrupted him, as he came from behind the bus, and Tammie followed him but stopped when he moved away from the bus, "Off you go then. Try stripping the air filter. Fast as you can. Back in two ticks." He brushed off his hands and started to walk into the distance, with Christina following after him. Tammie started to head back on the bus. _Maybe I can help Nathan with the seats, or I could start digging while Barclay is busy stripping the air filter. I've got to keep myself busy with something._

"Wait a minute. You're the man with all the answers. I'm not letting you out of my sight." Christina said, before he suddenly stopped, almost as if he had just remembered something, and turned around.

"Tammie, you coming too?" He asked, and she stared back at him, slightly stunned. She couldn't help but feel that small, almost childish, thought in the back of her brain. _It's a planet! A real, alien planet and he's asking if you want to explore it!_

"Huh?" The words came out of her mouth before she even thought about it fully, "Yeah. Sure." She called back, barely keeping the excitement from her voice, but from the look on his face, he had definitely heard it. She caught up with them, as they started walking again, and sand was kicked up by her combat boots.

They walked for a long while. On the way, Christina explained the points Tammie missed out on, and she began to feel slightly better after eating her granola bar and taking sips of water. When she had just finished her drink, the Doctor spoke up, aiming it at Christina, "Easier if you left the backpack behind."

"Where I go. It goes." _Must have something precious to her in there then._ Tammie thought absentmindedly.

"A backpack with a spade and an axe. Christina, who's going so far away, and scared by the sound of a siren." _So, he noticed that too then._ "Who are you?"

"You can talk. Let's just say we're three equal mysteries." _She's got you there, you are definitely a... Wait a sec... Three?_

She rose a brow at her, as she said, "Hey. Don't bring me into this... And anyway, I'm not exactly a 'mystery'." Tammie used air quotes as she spoke, when she almost tripped over herself. _Damn sand._ The Doctor thought otherwise though. She was definitely still a mystery to him in a small way. Especially this younger version of herself. She was so quiet.

Christina just hummed, before the Doctor spoke, "We make quite the team."

"I don't know about _that_ quite yet. Come on then. Tell me. If Carmen's right," Christina started to ask, as they stopped at the top of a dune, "if that wormhole's not an accident, then what is it? Has someone done this on purpose?"

"I don't know, but every single instinct of mine is telling me to get off this planet right now." He replied, looking off into the distance.

"And do you think we can?" She asked.

"I live in hope." He stated, with a positive air about him.

"That must be nice." Christina said, as Tammie hummed in agreement, looking over the desert with sad eyes, not noticing how the Doctor looked over at them both. Christina continued and put a hand up for him to shake, "It's Christina de Souza. To be precise, Lady Christina de Souza." They shook hands, before she shook Tammie's hand as well, who stood on her left side. _That's a mouthful._

"Ooh, that's handy, because I'm a Lord." Tammie rose an eyebrow at that. _Really?_

"Seriously? The Lord of where?" Christina asked, not quite believing him.

"It's quite a big estate." _Avoiding the question, are we?_

"No, but there's something more about you. That device you were carrying, and the wormhole. Like you knew. And the way you stride around this place like..." She trailed off, and Tammie furrowed her brows.

"Like?" He questioned, turning to face her.

"Like you're not quite..." _Oh... Oh!_ Tammie's eyes widened in realisation.

"No... You're not..." Tammie whispered, with a small grin on her face. _I mean, it does make sense. In more ways than one. Especially if it_ is _the same guy that... that thing was on about._

"Anyway, come on. Allons-y." He said, walking forward again, trying to get the attention off of himself, and also trying to hide a grin. The two women looked at each other, one with a quizzical look, the other with a grin that was slowly growing, before heading after him.

"Oui, mais pas si nous allons vers un cauchemar." Christina replied.

"Oh, we were made for each other!" The Doctor exclaimed, walking backwards for a moment.

"Language never was my strong suit in school," Tammie muttered her thoughts aloud. "something about going into a nightmare?" She asked Christina louder, so she could hear her.

She repeated herself, but in English this time. "'Yes, but not if we go to a nightmare.'"

Tammie nodded in understanding, as the Doctor asked, while he still stared ahead of them, "Tammie, how old are you?"

"You do know it is rude to ask a lady her age." Christina stated, as Tammie wrinkled her nose.

"I'm barely a lady. I just turned 20 a couple weeks ago, why do ask?"

"Hm? Oh, just wondering, that's all." He quickly got those words out, as they reached the top of another dune. Tammie went to question him, but he spoke again, "Ah, don't like the look of that."

Tammie stared in front of her, easily distracted by what she saw. It was kind of hard to see, but there was a storm coming towards them. A massive one too. "Storm clouds... Must be hundreds of miles away, right?"

"But getting closer." The Doctor agreed.

"If that's a sandstorm, we'll get ripped to shreds." _Comforting_ , _Christina, comforting..._

"It's a storm. Who says it's sand?" He said with his eyebrows raised, as he faced the two. They then turned and started to run, back towards the bus. "Either of you got a mobile on you by chance?" He asked as they ran. Christina shook her head, as Tammie replied.

"No, I left it at home. Of course, I would... Wait, why do you need a phone?!" _We're not exactly in range._ He didn't answer her, as they kept running, Tammie almost tripped up multiple times in the process. Sand was not her friend. _I swear that it's meant to be easier to walk/run in boots, not more difficult!_

As they got closer to the bus, the Doctor called out to Barclay. "Where's your phone?"

"What?" He asked, still fixing up the engine. Nathan was doing his best to dig the wheels out.

"Your phone." He said now a lot closer and hopping on the bus with the three of them following. "Where is it?"

"There. There on the seat." He pointed out.

He picked up said phone, as Christina spoke up, "You're hardly going to get a signal. We're on another planet." He pulled out an object that looked similar to a screwdriver, with a blue light at the end of it, when he pushed a button, and aimed it at the phone.

"Oh, just watch me." He said with determination. "Right. Now, bit of hush, thank you. Got to remember the number, very important number." He pressed in the numbers, and the phone started to call, as Tammie sat down in one of the front seats nearest the door, to catch her breath. _God, that was a lot of running. Well, not really but still, my head is spinning. I'm going to narrow it down and say it's either the dehydration or the adrenaline... Or both._

A male voice came through the phone, which surprised Tammie. _How did he...? What?_ "Hello, Pizza Geronimo?" _Ha! Somehow I don't think that was the important number. Don't think they'd be able to deliver this far out anyway._

"And again. Ah, seven six, not six seven." He said, slightly frustrated with himself, as he reentered the number, now in the correct order.

"This is the Unified Intelligence Taskforce." The Doctor looked like he was going to speak, but the male voice on the phone continued, "Please select one of the following four options."

"Oh, I hate these things." He complained.

"If you keep your finger pressed on zero, you get through to a real person. I saw it on Watchdog." Angela explained, as the Doctor sat down on the opposite side to Tammie, a few seats down.

"Thank you, Angela."

"UNIT helpline. Which department would you like?" A female voice came through. _UNIT... I think I've seen a few of them about now and again.. whenever there's been alien encounters and such._

He then turned serious. "Listen. It's the Doctor. It's me." After a little talk, and wait, of getting through, to whoever it was he wanted to get to, another female voice came through.

"Doctor? This is Captain Erisa Magambo. Might I say, sir, it's an honour."

"Did you just salute?" He said, almost in a teasing manner.

There was a slight pause, before she answered, "No." _Oh, she totally just saluted._ Tammie thought, with a smirk.

"Erisa, it's about the bus. HQ said you're at the tunnel, yeah?" The Doctor continued, after glancing at Tammie, with a small smirk of his own. _Did he just read my mind or something?_

"And where are you?"

"I'm on the bus. But apart from that, not a clue, except it's very pretty and pretty dangerous." He got up and moved to the opposite side he was on, and looked out of the window, as Angela sat down in a seat in front of Tammie.

"A body came through here. Have you sustained any more fatalities?" She questioned. Tammie frowned as she said that. _We didn't even know that guy's name..._

He sat back down again, as he talked, "No, and we're not going to, but I'm stuck. I haven't got the Tardis, and I need to analyse the wormhole." _The what? What the heck is a Tardis?_

"We have a scientific advisor on site. Doctor Malcolm Taylor. Just the man you need. He's a genius."

"Oh, is he? We'll see about that." _Rude._ He winced slightly and glanced in Tammie's direction, as if he just read her mind again, which confused her. He hadn't though. He was just remembering whenever she said that he was being rude in the past. She rose a brow at him, when he glanced back at her again, as they waited for Erisa to get to Malcolm, which he gave an innocent smile back to. _What was that about?_

"It's the Doctor." They heard Magambo say.

A new voice spoke up, which Tammie realised was the scientist guy, "No, I'm all right now, thanks. It was just a bit of a sore throat. Although, I've got to be honest, a cup of tea might be nice."

"It's _the_ Doctor." She said more clearly.

There was a long pause before he replied, "Do you mean... the _Doctor_ Doctor?" Said Doctor rubbed his eye, with his spare hand.

"I know. We all want to meet him one day, but we all know what that day will bring." _Oh, famous huh? What does_ that _mean though? 'We all know what that day will bring.' Definition of ominous._

"I can hear everything you're saying." The Doctor said, and there was a small exhale of excitement on the other end of the call before Malcolm spoke again.

"Hello, Doctor? Oh my goodness!" He said rather loudly that he had to pull the phone away from him a small bit.

"Yes, I am. Hello, Malcolm." _Well, someone's got a fan._

He laughed slightly, before continuing, "The Doctor. Cor blimey. I can't believe I'm actually speaking to you. I mean, I've read all the files." _A_ big _fan. Files though? Who is this guy?_

"Really? What was your favourite? The giant robot?" He asked proudly. _W-what?_ "No, no, hold on. Let's sort out that wormhole. Excuse me." He got up, moved to the front of the bus, and sat in the driver's seat. Christina also got up from her seat, which was opposite Tammie's, backpack in hand, and walked over to him so she could listen in.

Tammie, on the other hand, just stayed where she was, and got more comfortable in her seat, with her back facing the window, her feet on the seat, her arms over her knees, as she draped her jacket over her shoulders and tried to relax a little. _How this day has turned... I don't see why she wants to listen in._ _He's obviously just talking sciencey stuff anyway. Though, from what I've seen of her, even just in the past half an hour-ish of knowing her, she seems the curious type. I mean I am too, but her even more so._ After about a couple minutes or so, he got off the phone and headed for the door. "Barclay, I'm holding on to this." He said as he ran out, Christina hot on his heels.

"You better bring it back." He called out to him. _I might as well stay here, doubt they would need me to join with whatever they're doing out there. I'd probably just get in the way, anyway._

The Doctor thought otherwise though, as he went up to the window she was at. "You too, Tammie."

She jumped and her heart nearly thumped it's way out of her chest, when he spoke near her ear. She turned around to face him, with a hand over her chest and wide eyes. He, on the other hand, was grinning. "Jeez, don't _do_ that!"

"Sorry, come on." With that, he walked away, as she tried to slow down her heart rate. _Okay, guess I_ am _going with them then... and he is so not sorry._

She narrowed her eyes half-heartedly at Barclay, who was doing his best not to laugh, then stood up and joined the duo. When she had caught up with them, once again, she whacked the Doctor on his arm, albeit wasn't hard. "That was for making me jump." She stated as she pointed an accusing finger at him, while she was trying to hold back a smile.

"Ow, I said sorry." He said, with his hands up, but amusement was held in his eyes, as she just rolled hers. When they had, eventually, reached the dune they were on before, he started taking photos of the storm, "Send this back to Earth. See if Malcolm can analyse the storm." Tammie squinted her eyes at it, as Christina explained what she was seeing.

"There's something in those clouds. Something shining. Look." _That's what Carmen said, something that was riding on the wind and shining._

"Like metal." He stated, still focused on the phone.

"Why would there be metal in a storm?" Christina asked. _Well, we are on a different planet, in a different part of the universe maybe... Anything could be possible, right? Hey, it could rain Coca Cola for all we know._ Suddenly there was a noise, like a clicking almost. "Did you hear something?"

"Hold on. Busy." The Doctor replied, still fiddling with the phone. Tammie though, turned around and spotted a creature. It was a humanoid fly. Aaand it was holding a gun. Well, it definitely looked gun shaped anyway.

"There was a noise, sort of... Doctor." _Oh, so she's spotted it too, lovely._

"Yeah... You know about point 5, Christina? _So_ not happening." Tammie muttered out nervously.

It started to head towards them, and the Doctor put the phone away, while he studied the creature. He put his hands up in front of the two protectively, as they raised their hands up slightly as well, and began using his vocal chords in the same way the fly thing was. "That's wait. I shout wait, people usually wait." _Okay._ _This guy is full of surprises._

"You speak the language?" Christina asked, surprised herself.

"Every language." Tammie glanced at him, with an eyebrow raised, before she quickly moved her eyes back to the alien nervously, who chittered. He spoke in the language again, before explaining, "That's begging for mercy."

The fly guy then pointed the gun forward in a 'move' like fashion. _I understand that._ And Christina did too. "That means move."

"Oh, you're learning." He joked, as they began moving in a line, Christina up front, Tammie and the Doctor in the middle, and the fly creature at the back.

She felt herself panic, as they walked further, and she could feel her shoulders tense. The Doctor must have sensed that as well, because he began to walk by her side instead of behind her.

"You feeling okay?" He said under his breath, trying not to get the attention of the others.

She glanced at him, before staring ahead again. "Yeah, just... I've not exactly had the best experiences with aliens... ah, sorry, I didn't mean- It's just-" She cut herself short, as she realised that she was just about to pour everything out to him. _This is neither the time or place to be talking about this. We're being kidnapped for crying out loud! Stop doing this to yourself. Stop thinking about her!_ She closed her eyes in frustration for a moment, and the Doctor was about to say something, but thankfully Christina spoke up, oblivious to Tammie's inner turmoil.

"These fly things, they must be responsible. They brought us here." It was then that she saw the giant... well, spaceship in front of them. _How did I not see that before?_ It was in bad condition too. It was split in half, like it had crashed or something.

The Doctor looked at Tammie in concern for a moment more, before he answered her. "No, no, no, no, no. Look at the ship. It's a wreck. They crashed, just like us." He glanced at Tammie, but saw that she was focusing on the run down ship in front of them, so left that conversation he wanted to have with her for a later time.

When they eventually reached the ship, Tammie instantly put her jacket on. _Jeez, it's cold._ She couldn't help but look around in wonder though, even if it was a wreck with pipes and wires dangling down from the ceiling, it was a spaceship! A spaceship, from space! A spaceship, from a different part of the universe entirely! She didn't know whether to be terrified or excited. At the moment, the two emotions were in a tie.

"Oh, but this place is freezing." Christina complained.

"Hmm, the hull's made of photafine steel." Everybody slightly jumped as steam burst out of a pipe, before he continued, "Turns cold when it's hot. Boiling desert outside, freezing ship inside. Since I've met you, Christina, we've been through all the extremes."

"That's how I like things, extreme." _Is she seriously... flirting?_

They walked a little further before the Doctor spoke up. "Oh, this is beautiful. Intact it must have been magnificent. A proper streamlined deep spacer." He complimented, as he glanced around like Tammie, taking everything in.

"I'll remember that as I'm slowly being tortured. At least I'm bleeding on the floor of a really well-designed spaceship." _They wouldn't do that... Would they?_ And nervousness takes the wheel! The Doctor glanced at Tammie, with a torn up expression, as if he was reminded by something from Christina words, but when she went to look at him, he quickly moved his gaze elsewhere.

They stopped as another one of the creatures, very similar to the one who had brought them here, came over and started talking to the other. He then pressed a purple device he had on his jumpsuit, and the Doctor explained. "Oh, right, good. Yes. Hello. That's a telepathic translator. He can understand us."

"Still sounds like gibberish to me." Christina complained, giving him a look.

"He did say, ' _he_ can understand _us_.'" Tammie muttered, still scared about this whole situation.

"It doesn't work the other way round." He then began to translate what the aliens were saying to the two women, "'You will suffer for your crimes,' etcetera. 'You have committed an act of _violence_ against the Tritovore race.' Tritovores. They're called Tritovores. 'You came here in the two hundred to destroy us.' Sorry, what's the two hundred?" he asked, leaning forward slightly.

"It's the bus." _I'm starting to think that I wasn't even_ on _the right bus._ "Number two hundred. They mean the bus." Christina explained to him.

"Oh. No, look. I think you're making the same mistake Christina did." He then introduced the trio with extended arms, while grinning, "I'm the Doctor, by the way, and this is Tammie and Christina. The Honourable Lady Christina. At least I hope she's honourable. We got pulled through that wormhole. The two hundred doesn't look like that normally. It's broken, just the same as you."

The two talked amongst themselves, then they slowly lowered their guns. "What are they doing?" Christina asked cautiously.

"They believe me."

"What, as simple as that?" Christina looked at him with a disbelieving expression.

"I've got a very honest face." He started, "And the translator says I'm telling the truth. Plus the face." _Uh huh._ "Right. So, first things first." He got back on track and headed towards the console of the ship.

Tammie started to feel a bit better knowing that they weren't going to hurt or murder them, but still felt a small bit anxious.

"There's a very strange storm heading our way. Can you send out a probe?" One of the Tritovores spoke, and from the Doctors face, it wasn't exactly good. "Oh, they've lost power. Hmm, the crash knocked the main line crystallography out of sync. But if I can jiggle it back." He kicked the machine in front of him, making it light up, and the Tritovores clicked. "I thank you. Yes, I am. Frequently." If she wasn't in the wrong head space, she would've probably chuckled at the way he said that. "Okie Doke, let's launch that probe." He flicked one of the many switches, which sent out said probe, as the Tritovores messed with some buttons for a hologram to pop up in front of them.

The Doctor put on his glasses and sat on a crate in front of the hologram, which was a Nebula of some kind. Christina and Tammie sat down as well, one on either side of the Doctor, as he explained what they were seeing. Tammie was in awe. "The Scorpion Nebula. We're on the other side of the universe. Just what you wanted." He said turning towards Christina. "So far away. The planet of San Helios." The hologram shifted into a planet, similar looking to Earth. _Wow. It's beautiful._

Christina pointed towards the hologram, "And that's us? We're on another world." She said excitedly, with a grin.

"We have been for quite a while." He said, with a hint of amusement in his voice.

"I know, but seeing it like that..." She trailed off, letting the Doctor speak up.

"It's good, isn't it."

"Wonderful."

"It's fantastic." Tammie almost whispered, still in awe. She had always loved space and the wonders of what could be out there, and now, here she was... in another part of the universe. Hundreds of thousands of millions of miles away. Even if they were in danger, and would possibly die, she was still enthralled by all of this. Her eyes wide in wonder, and her mouth ever so slightly opened in amazement.

The Doctor saw her face and smiled. He knew that face well. Not necessarily hers personally, but just in general. Whenever he had a companion and they saw a new world, a new species, or sometimes anything remotely new to them, not from Earth, they had that face. He saw it on Tammie's face more than anyone though. Even though she was around him for, at the most, ten minutes at a time, if it was something new or something she hadn't seen before, or even if she _had_ seen it before, her face would light up just like it was now. She faced him when she noticed him looking at her, and grinned before the Tritovores said something that caught his attention.

"The Tritovores were going to trade with San Helios. Population of one hundred billion. Plenty of waste matter for them to absorb." That _is a lot of people. This world must be a lot bigger than Earth then._

"By waste matter, you mean..." Christina began to say.

"They feed off what others leave behind... from their behind, if you see what I mean. It's perfectly natural. They are flies." _Hey, I'm not judging._

"Charming. Just remind me never to kiss them." Christina quipped.

The hologram changed once again, this time to a city. _Beautiful._ "San Helios City." The Doctor stated.

"That's amazing. But you've seen this sort of thing before, haven't you?" Christina asked him.

"Thousands of times."

"That Lordship of yours. The Lord of where, exactly?"

"Of Time. I come from a race of people called TimeLords." He said, and Tammie's eyes widened, but this time it was out of fright. _That's another thing that Dalek said, 'TimeLord.'_ That was the proof she needed to know. He _was_ who that thing was on about.

She glanced at him, before speaking under her breath. "So it _is_ you." _Now, is this a bad thing or a good thing? I mean he seems nice enough, and he's helping us out with getting back home but... I don't know... What did that thing want with him? And then there's the thing with him knowing who I am, apparently._

He must've heard her though, because his head turned so fast towards her, he most probably almost got whiplash. "What?"

Christina didn't let him get an answer though, "You're an alien?" She asked surprised.

He paused, noticing Tammie looked slightly scared, while she looked off to the side as she rubbed her shoulder. He knew it as a nervous tick of hers, but he couldn't exactly do or say anything about it now, so he turned to face Christina again and replied, "Yeah. But you don't have to kiss me either."

"You look human."

"You look TimeLord." They stared at each other for a moment, as Tammie calmed herself down. "Anyway..." They all turned to face the hologram. _Awkward._

"So if that's San Helios, all we need to do is find that city. They can help us." Christina stated with a grin.

"I don't think it's that simple." The Doctor said, looking at the hologram with a thoughtful face. One of the Tritovores spoke up, then headed towards the controls, and the hologram shifted from the city into the desert. "We're in the city right now." Tammie's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"But it's sand. That first image, the temples and things, what's that then, ancient history?" Christina asked, getting worried, at the same Tritovore clicked again.

"The image was taken last year." He translated.

"It became a desert in one year?" _She really does love questions, doesn't she? Then again I am definitely confused as well so..._

The Doctor grabbed some sand, that was on the floor, and let it run through his fingers. "I said there was something in the sand. The city, the oceans, the mountains, the wildlife, and a hundred billion people turned to sand. All those voices in Carmen's head. She's hearing them die." He sounded and looked distraught, as the last bit of sand fall to the floor.

 _A whole planet just... And poor Carmen, that must be terrible for her._ Tammie looked distraught herself, though Christina just grabbed her hair and looked disgusted. "But I've got sand in my hair. That's dead people. Oh, that's disgusting. Oh." _Really? One hundred_ billion _people are dead and all you care about is your hair!_

"Something destroyed the whole of San Helios." He said solemnly, either not hearing what she said or ignoring her.

"Yes, but in my hair." Tammie looked over at her, with narrowed eyes, and was about to have a go at her for not respecting the dead, when the Doctor's, well Barclay's, phone rang.

"Malcolm, tell me the bad news." He said as he lifted the phone to his ear. Tammie couldn't hear what was being heard on the other side but got the gist of the conversation from his facial expressions and answers. It wasn't exactly good. He lifted his hand that wasn't holding the phone to his face and rubbed his eye. "How can it get bigger by itself?" He exhaled quietly before saying, "Good work, both of you." There was yet another pause, before the phone beeped, "Oh, sorry. Call waiting. Got to go." He pressed the button and answered, "Yeah?" After whoever it was, which Tammie was guessing someone from the bus, said what they said, he looked worried and asked, "Why, what's happened?" A moment later he started to put the phone away from his ear, and Tammie could just about hear the person on the other side.

"-never going to move." It was Nathan and those words didn't exactly sound promising either.

"What is it, what's wrong? Doctor, tell me." Christina demanded, while he just stared straight ahead with a blank look.

"Doctor?" Tammie called his name timidly, as she put a hand on his shoulder. He turned to face her, and she could see the worry in his eyes, but there was something else too, like he wanted her to say something, but she didn't know what that would possibly be.

"Doctor, tell me. What did he say?" Christina asked again, but he didn't answer her, just stared at Tammie, who was trying to come up with the right words, until a loud beeping sound came from the controls, and the Tritovore spoke.

"It's the probe. It's reached the storm." He translated.

"What's he saying?" Tammie asked him, with her brows furrowed.

"It's not a storm." Video footage from the probe came on, and there were flying... _things_ everywhere.

"It's a swarm. Millions of them." Christina gasped, as they all stood up.

"Billions." He stated before they suddenly lost the footage. "Oh, we've lost the probe. I think it got eaten. Everything on this planet gets eaten." He said, fed up.

"How far away is that swarm?" She asked nervously.

"A hundred miles. But at that speed, it'll be here in twenty minutes." _Okay. That's definitely worrying_. The Tritovore clicked, and the Doctor answered. "No, no, no, they're not just coming for us. They want the wormhole."

"They're heading for Earth?" Christina exclaimed.

The Doctor turned to the Tritovore and stated, "Show the analysis." One of the creatures showed on the hologram, the full body turning in a circle.

"They're like massive, metal, manta rays." Tammie said so quietly, they barely heard her.

"Incredible. They swarm out of a wormhole, strip the planet bare, then move on to the next world. Start the life cycle all over again." The Doctor explained.

"So, they make the wormholes?" Christina questioned.

"They must do."

"But how? They don't exactly look like technicians. And if the wormhole belongs to them, why are they a hundred miles away?"

"Because they need to be?" He said, not so sure. "No, that's bonkers. Hang on." He paced a little, before speaking again. "Yes. Do you see? Billions of them, flying in formation, all around the planet. Round and round and round, faster and faster and faster, till they generate a rupture in space. The speed of them, and the numbers, and the size, all that rips the wormhole into existence. " _Oh, wow, that's clever._ Tammie thought as she began to understand.

"And the wormhole'a getting bigger?"

"Because they're getting closer." The Doctor and Tammie finished together, giving each other grins.

"But how do they get through? Because that wormhole's a killer. We've seen it."

"No, no, no, look." The Doctor pointed towards the hologram, "It's like Tammie said, see the exoskeleton."

"Metal?"

"They've got bones of metal. They eat metal and extrude it into the exoskeleton. So their velocity makes the wormhole, then their body makes it safe. Perfect design." _Yeah. Even though they might probably kill us. I got to admit they are pretty awesome. Then again I really like manta rays, so I'm slightly biased._

"Those things are going to turn the entire Earth into a desert. So why exactly are you smiling?" Christina questioned.

He took off his glasses slowly, and answered, "Worse it gets the more I love it."

"Me too." Christina agreed.

"Yup." Tammie grinned, popping the p. _I think it's the adrenaline. It's terrifying, but it's amazing at the same time._ The Doctor grinned as well, before heading towards the console.

"How did you know they were made of metal?" Christina asked Tammie, while the Doctor and the Tritovores talked.

"Well, earlier on the Doctor said it was like metal in the clouds, plus it looked like metal to me on the analysis, just a guess that's all." Tammie replied with a small smile. Christina hummed then turned to face the three aliens with a thoughtful look. _Okay..._ She furrowed her eyebrows at her.

Christina put her foot on top of the crate, they were previously sitting on, and spoke, "The thing is, Doctor, you're missing the obvious. We came through the wormhole, yes? But our Tritovore friends didn't. They came here to trade with San Helios. Therefore, the question is, why did they crash?" _Wait... Is she trying to impress him or something?_ Tammie raised a brow. _It's a fair point though._

"Ah, good question." He turned around to speak to them, but quickly turned back around to say, "What a team." He then spoke to the Tritovores once more, "Like she said, why did you crash?" One of the Tritovores clicked and ran ahead, and the trio followed him. After a little jog, they reached a room with a massive hole in the middle. "Oh, yes, Gravity well. Look, goes all the way down to the engine." Tammie took a peek, being careful of her footing, as the Doctor continued. "So what happened?" The Tritovore explained to the Doctor what happened, and he translated, "He says the drive system stalled. Ten miles up, they fell out of the sky. But what caused that?"

The Tritovore just shrugged his shoulders. "Which means no idea." Christina said drily.

"Yeah." He then looked down into the hole, and back up to the Tritovore. "But wait a minute. That's a crystal nucleus down there, yes? And it looks like it survived the crash. If the crystal's intact? Oh, yes. That's better than diesel." He said as he jumped down from the raised platform around the hole.

"What, you can use the crystal to move the bus?" Christina questioned.

As he looked around the room, he answered her. "I think so. The spaceship's a write-off, but the two hundred's small enough." He then walked over to a screen next to the Tritovore and started to press buttons.

"How does a crystal drive a bus?" _That sounds like the beginning of a bad joke. What's the punchline? Like a... geode? Eh, I'm bad at this._

"In a super clever outer-spacey way. Just trust me" _Surprisingly... I do._ He managed to get a picture up on the screen of the crystal. "There's the crystal! It's fallen to the bottom of the well." He faced the Tritovore and asked, "Have you got access shafts? All frozen? Well, maybe I can open them." He then noticed a couple ear pieces on the side. "Ah! Internal comms. Put that on." He passed one to Christina, and put the other in his ear as he grabbed, a shocked, Tammie's hand and headed towards the door, with the Tritovore following after them. "You stay here. Keep an eye on the shaft. Tell me if anything happens." He told Christina as they left.

As they ran towards the control room, Tammie couldn't help but think of something. _It's like he doesn't want me to leave his side or something. Like he's worried about me... Why would he be worried about me?_

They reached the control room and himself and the Tritovores started messing with wires at the console. "If I can use that sunlight to start the automatic maintenance... Christina? If you see a panel opening in the shaft, let me know." Tammie couldn't hear what Christina was saying on the other side, but she could tell nothing was happening as they kept on messing with wires and such, herself passing some over to the Doctor, which the Tritovore on her right passed to her. "Anything now? Any sign of movement? How's that? Any result?" _Jeez, how many ways are there for saying that._ "Why, what do you mean?" He blew a quick breath into the port of the device he was holding, before he looked up, "Christina? Christina!" He dropped the device he was holding, grabbed Tammie's hand again and began to run to the engine room.

As they headed into the room, they saw Christina on the edge of the hole, with a harness on, connected to a winch she had set up. "The aristocracy survives for a reason. We're ready for anything." She turned her head to look at them with a smirk and then fell into the shaft.

"No!" The Doctor called out as they reached the hole themselves, looking down to see her. He let go of Tammie's hand and quickly got out his sonic screwdriver, then pointed it up towards the pulley. "Come on, come on, come on, come on. That's better." He then walked over to the screen where the Tritovore stood, and Tammie followed him. On the screen, there was footage of her hanging there with a blue, crackling, light below her. "You're about to hit the security grid. Look." She looked down and Tammie could tell she looked slightly worried as her lips moved. "Try the big red button." She did so, and the electricity went away. "Now come back up. I can do that." Tammie held back a chuckle. _I would like to see that._ "Slowly." He stated with a tone to his voice.

She headed down, head first, and the Doctor walked over to the edge of the hole, talking to her again, "Quite the mystery aren't you. Lady Christina de Souza, carrying a winch in her bag." He then sat down with a forlorn look on his face. "I had this friend, once. She called me spaceman." _Had. So, does that mean she died? Or maybe they fell out or something..._ Tammie frowned slightly, then walked over and sat down, near him. He glanced at her and she gave him a small, what she hoped was, comforting smile, which he returned. "Well, a little blue box." He continued, "Travels in more than space. It can journey through time, Christina." _Time travelling spaceship, maybe?_ _I'm not completely surprised about that, considering he was saying that he is a Lord of_ time _earlier on._ "Oh, the places I've been. World War One. Creation of the universe. End of the universe. The war between China and Japan." _That's awesome..._

He noticed something in Christina's backpack and glanced up at Tammie, then back down. She rose a brow at him, as he continued, "And the Court of King Athelstan in 924 AD." He picked up a cup trophy of some kind, and Tammie stared at it in shock. _That's... That's the cup of Athelstan!_ She was confused, but then... _Oh, that makes so much sense. The tools. The dressed all in black. The winch and harness. The wanting to keep her backpack by her at all times. The curiosity. The police being after her. She's a thief!_ "But I don't remember you being there. So what are you doing with this?"

There was a pause and the Tritovore spoke up, looking curious about the object the Doctor was holding.

"It's the Cup of Athelstan, it was given to the first King of Britain as a coronation present from, uh, Hywel, the King of the Welsh." Tammie explained to the Tritovore, as the Doctor looked impressed. She looked over to him almost shy. "I remember that from history in secondary school. My teacher never did like the set topics the school gave her... She liked to do her own thing."

The Doctor smiled and hummed, "Good teacher, I like her. But," He paused, carrying on the conversation with Christina, "it's been held in the International Gallery for two hundred years, which makes you, Lady Christina, a thief." There was a short pause, "Don't tell me you need the money." A longer pause, "No, no, no, no, no. If you're short on cash, you rob a bank. Stealing this? That's a lifestyle." Christina said something akin to 'I take it you disapprove?' And the Doctor replied. "Absolutely. Except. That little blue box, I stole it... from my own people." _Well... if you didn't then you wouldn't have been here, saving our lives._

Suddenly there was a loud roar that came from below. _What the hell was that?_ She looked at him, worried, and he looked back at her the same.

"We never did find out why the ship crashed. Christina, I think you should come back up." She, on the other hand, must have thought otherwise, "Careful. Slowly. Have you got an open-vent system?" He asked the Tritovore, who was now standing in front of them. It chittered and answered him with a nod. "Thought so." Tammie looked at him with questionable eyes. _Gonna share with the class?_ He faced her and explained, as well as to Christina. "It's like when birds fly into the engines of an aircraft." Her faced paled. _Oh, so that means at least one of those things is on board. Great._ "It got trapped in the vents, caused the crash. Christina get out."

He stood up with Tammie and was about to use his sonic to get her back up, when she must have said something. "No, it's dormant because it's so cold down there, but your body heat is raising the temperature." Tammie went over to the screen next to the Tritovore, when the Doctor spoke again. "Not just the crystal. I need the whole bed, the plate thing." There was a small pause and then the Doctor soniced the pulley, so she could get up and out of there. "Come on, come on, come on, come on." He then came over to the screen, still using his sonic, "It's going to eat its way up." They saw her reactivate the security grid on her way up, stunning or maybe even killing the creature, as Tammie and the Doctor went back over to the hole. "Ooh, she's good." _Yeah, go, Christina!_ When she reached the top they both pulled her over, "That's it, that's it, that's it. We've got you, we've got you."

The Tritovore grabbed the crystal from her and clicked.

"Isn't she just." The Doctor said with a smile. Christina got out of her harness, grabbed her backpack, and they all rushed back to the control room, where the other Tritovore was. "Commander? Mission complete. Now, we've got to get back to the two hundred, all of us." He clicked, and the Doctor continued, "Oh, don't be so daft. A Captain can leave his ship, if there's a bus standing by." He said while holding the crystal in one hand.

There was a sudden bang, followed by a screech, and Christina spoke up worried, "What the hell was that? Is this place safe?" They all looked around, as they heard it again, "It's the creature. It's not dead."

The Tritovores chittered, and the Doctor brought up something that Tammie didn't want to be true. "Maybe you didn't hit just one of them. If you hit a swarm?"

"Do you mean if there's more on board?" Christina almost shouted.

"This ship's built inside a metal sleeve. They can move through the infrastructure, all around us." Sand and dust fell from the ceiling, as there was another bang. "And those things wake up hungry. Commander, you've got to come with us right now."

"Come back to Earth. We'll find you a home." Christina said, while Tammie nodded, agreeing with her.

"And that's the word of a Lady. Come on." The four of them started to head towards the door, but one of the Tritovores stayed, and headed towards the console, just as the manta ray crashed through and it ate him. _Oh, no... And it is a lot bigger than I thought they were._ The commander raised his weapon at it, as the Doctor shouted out, "No, don't!" But he didn't listen, and he got eaten by it too. "There's nothing we can do. Run!" He grabbed Tammie's hand, as she was just standing there in shock, and booked it.

They ran through the ship and outside as fast as they could, Tammie trying her best to keep upright and not trip. _Thank you adrenaline for being a thing._ The Doctor got a call and he answered it, but hung up soon after, "Not now, Malcolm!" They eventually saw the bus in sight, as Nathan and Barclay headed out.

"At last. Where've you been?" Nathan exclaimed, with exhaustion. Tammie didn't blame him, when they were meeting aliens and such, they were just sat there in worry.

"Get inside. Get them sitting down." The Doctor quickly said and they hurried in, while the trio stopped outside, and Tammie caught her breath. _I really need to work on the running thing... Jeez, I'm out of shape..._ "Now then, let's have a look."

He grabbed the crystal out of the clamps, as Christina asked, "So what does that crystal do?"

"Oh, nothing. Don't need the crystal." He threw it over his shoulder, and Christina gasped, as Tammie rose a brow.

"I risked my life that." She said frustrated.

"No, no. You risked your life for these. The clamps." They went around the bus, and he attached a clamp to each of the wheels. "One there. One there. One there. And one there." Then they hurried onto the bus, and the Doctor sat down in the driver's seat, before he put the final clamp on the steering wheel.

"But what are the clamps for? Do they turn the wheels?" Christina asked in a hurry.

"Yeah, something like that. I just need to fix this. Have you got a hammer in that bag?" He asked.

She bent down to get it out as she answered, "Funnily enough." She passed it to him, as Tammie put her jacket off and tugged it around her waist. _Ugh, running, plus heat, plus dehydration does not add up well._

The Doctor, in return, passed her the phone and asked her to hit redial. She held it up to his ear as he began to hit the clamp in place. "Malcolm it's me." He looked up, with confusion written on his face before saying, "Ready for what?... I'm trying to get back, but listen, there might be something following us. You need to close the wormhole." A grin slowly formed on his face. "Oh, Malcolm, you're brilliant." There was a pause, and he looked frustrated. "Sorry, got to go." He then motioned with his head for Christina to hang up and she did. He fiddled with it a bit more, trying to move the wheel, but it wouldn't budge, and sparks started to fly off it. "Oh, it's not compatible. Bus, spaceship, spaceship, bus. I need to weld the two systems together."

"And how do you do that?" Christina questioned.

"I need something non-corrosive. Something malleable. Something ductile." He paused and faced her. "Something gold."

"Oh no, you don't." She said defiantly, as Tammie frowned at her.

"Christina, what's it worth now?" _Come on Christina. It's us or the cup._

Barclay came up next to them and showed him his watch. "Hey, hey, use this."

The Doctor looked at it, before looking at him with an eyebrow raised. "I said gold."

"It is gold." He said defensively.

"Oh, they saw you coming." He turned to Christina again, as Barclay began to head back to his seat, disappointed. Tammie patted his shoulder, as he went past, and gave him a small smile. "Christina." She stared at him for a second, before reluctantly pulling it out of her backpack.

"It's over a thousand years old, worth eighteen million pounds. Promise me you'll be careful." She passed it to him, as he promised.

"I promise." He glanced at Tammie, with a certain twinkle in his eye, before he placed the cup on the side... and hit it multiple times with the hammer.

Christina looked in disbelief, as Tammie let out a small chuckle, before covering it with a cough and looked away, hiding her smirk behind her hand. "I hate you." Christina stated, as he kept on hammering away and melding the two together, also hiding a smirk, until he finished. _Did I just laugh? I actually just laughed. Been a while since I did that..._

"This is your driver speaking. Hold on tight." He said, still fiddling with a couple buttons.

Barclay spoke up, "But what for? What's he doing?"

Christina turned to him, as did Tammie, "Do as he says." She then turned back round to him, as Tammie grabbed onto the pole near the door. "What _are_ you doing?"

He didn't answer her though, just started up the bus. "Come on. That's it. You can do it, you beauty. One last trip." The bus started to rise up and into the air as everyone, except him of course, looked around in surprise.

Tammie could hear the reactions of everyone who was sat down and looked over at the Doctor, with a small laugh. _We're flying. We are actually, truly flying. This is incredible!_

He glanced at the two women and stated, "Anti-gravity clamps. Didn't I say? Round we go." Everybody held on tight, as he turned the bus around.

Carmen called out from the back of the bus, "Doctor, they're coming!" Tammie looked out the back window and there they were, the swarm was close behind them. She faced the front again, as Christina talked again.

"Do you think this thing will survive the journey back?" _Oh, yeah, that's a thing._

"Only one way to find out. Next stop..."

"Planet Earth!" Christina exclaimed.

"Old London town!" Tammie joined in, as the Doctor grinned and drove into the wormhole.

Everyone screamed as they went through it once more, with the bright light in tow, and then they were back. The bus lifted up and into the air once more, flying above London.

"It's London!"

"We're back home."

"He did it. He did it!" Barclay, Angela and Nathan all shouted out in joy. Tammie grinned, while her head was still going around a mile a minute, and she looked out the window. Though the happiness was short lived, as gunshots went off. Three of the rays had gotten through.

The Doctor picked up the phone again and redialled Malcolm, "Malcolm, close that wormhole." He paused for an answer, and when he was going to speak again he looked at the phone, "He hung up on me." He looked at them in disbelief and phoned him again.

"Got you back for earlier." Tammie said with a wide smile.

He just rolled his eyes playfully, "Malcolm!" He put the phone away from his ear, "He's hung up again." He pressed redial and quickly spoke, "Malcolm, listen to me!" Tammie and Christina shared a look, before he continued. "I need that signal. We've got billions of those things about to fly through... Loop it back through the integrator, and keep the signal ramping up... Five hundred Bernards! Do it now!" _Bernards? Never heard that type of measurement before._

More gunshots went off and Nathan called out, "Doctor, it's coming for us." Sure enough, one of the rays was headed for the bus.

"Oh no, you don't." The Doctor turned the bus, hitting the metal manta ray with the tail end of the bus.

Christina faced him after they were in the clear, and said, "Did I say I hated you? I was lying." She grabbed him by the front of his suit and pulled him towards her to kiss him. _Well, I can't say I wasn't expecting that. With all the flirting and such._ Everyone started clapping and cheering, while Tammie just smiled, and stared out the window.

When she pulled away, he looked shocked, but quickly recovered. "Do not stand forward of this point." He nodded, with a smile, as Tammie gave him a two fingered, mock salute. "Ladies and gentlemen, you have reached your final destination. Welcome home, the mighty two hundred." He started to land the bus, dinging the bell on the way down, and as he did, applause could be heard. They landed and everyone cheered, thankful that they were on the ground and home, safe. Tammie, Christina and the Doctor shared a smile, then she let go of the pole she had been hanging onto, and put her jacket on once more.

They all headed off the bus, and as they did, a UNIT soldier stood there. "Welcome back. If you could step away from the bus, just to be safe. As fast as you can, thank you. It's standard procedure. We need to screen you and then you'll all be taken to debriefing." _Great._ Tammie frowned, as the Doctor pulled out a wallet and showed the soldier something.

"I don't count."

Christina called out to him, as he walked forward. "No, but Doctor?"

"With me, thank you." The soldier escorted the two to the side, where people in white protective coveralls scanned everyone with Geiger counters and other devices.

Tammie glanced over to the Doctor, who was currently being hugged by a man in a lab coat. _That must be Malcolm._ He glanced over in Tammie's direction and grinned, before the Doctor said something that made his attention go back to him. She looked at the person in front of her, who was scanning her, then she looked back over there and a lady, in UNIT uniform, came over to him as Dr Taylor walked away. _Magambo? Maybe? Her uniform looks high rank, anyway._

The Doctor then looked over in their direction and glanced at Tammie, who smiled at him slightly, then turned to face the person who was scanning her again. When she looked over once again, he was headed towards a police box. _The little blue box..._ After a moment or two, Christina spoke up, "That's quite enough of that." She ran towards the Doctor, but Tammie stayed where she was. After another minute of being scanned, they were all escorted forward.

Tammie saw Christina being taken away in handcuffs, by the police, and almost ran into Carmen when she stopped in front of the Doctor. She went to go around her and Lou but was stopped by a gentle hand on her arm. Carmen smiled at her, and let go before speaking to him. "Doctor? Take care now." _Why does she want me to hear her say goodbye to him?_

"You too. Chops and gravy, lovely." He said with a smile.

"No, but you be careful. Because your song is ending, sir." Tammie furrowed her brows in confusion.

The Doctors face fell, and he questioned her in concern, "What do you mean?"

"It is returning. It is returning through the dark... And then, Doctor? Oh... But then... he will knock four times." Tammie could see the colour almost drain from his face. _What does that mean?_ She then turned to Tammie and gave her a small smile. "And, Tammie, dear?"

"Uh, yes?" She said, confused and nervous.

"You will meet your parents soon," _Okay, now the colour in my face is draining away._ "and... Oh, you have so much more inside than you realise." She said happily, before turning and leaving with Lou. Tammie just stared at her back, confused, before taking a glance at the Doctor, who had turned away, to sonic Christina's handcuffs, and slowly moved forward, next to the group again.

 _So, I'm going to meet my parents for the first time and... maybe the second thing was to just boost my confidence up or something._ She was dragged out of her thoughts, by Christina running towards the bus, with the cops chasing after her.

"Stop that woman! Stop her! Don't just stand there, stop her!" One of them shouted, but it was too late, she had hopped on the bus and closed the doors. The bus started up, and Barclay began to laugh, as did Tammie. _Try not to get yourself in_ too _much trouble, wherever you go next, Christina._

"Go on." Angela said, as the bus flew over near the Doctor, and the doors opened.

She couldn't hear what they said, but the doors soon shut again and the bus began to fly away. Everyone looked up and cheered as the bus flew off, into the distance.

Tammie looked over to the Doctor and she saw him heading into the police box. She pondered for a moment, before she called out to him, "Doctor! Wait a sec." She jogged over to him, and he stuck his head out of the door, before he walked out.

"Tammie I-" He looked sad, but she didn't wait for him to finish.

"I just wanted to say thank you." He looked surprised. "You saved our lives, which I kinda get the feeling you do often and... you even made me smile today. Hell, you made me laugh, which... is a first for a long time. So, just... thank you, Doctor." She grinned up at him, and he gave her a small smile in return, before her head started to ache again and her legs started to wobble a bit. "Ow, okay that's the adrenaline wearing off." She said with a small smile, as she lifted a hand to her head. "Anyway, I hope I see you again... Only, maybe without the almost dying part." She smiled, and he did the same, but it failed slightly. He looked off to the side for a moment, his face contorted, and she went to turn away but stopped when he spoke.

"I can give you a lift home if you want? That way you won't have to suffer the endless questions they're going to ask you. And you should be getting some rest as soon as possible." He gave her a pointed look, and she rolled her eyes before she smiled slightly.

"You don't have to. I'm kind of used to answering questions now, anyway..." She said the last part quietly, thinking about all the questions Alyssa's parents asked her afterwards, and the police, and everyone who was ever close to her. ' _Why didn't you save her?' 'Why wasn't it you who died?' 'What do you mean she jumped in front of you?' 'Why would she want to save_ you _?'_

The Doctor looked at her quizzically, before her legs almost gave out, as her head started to spin. He caught her before she could fall, and said, "Well, that answers that question." as he stood her up straight.

"No, no. It's okay. I'm fine just... not a really good flyer, that's all." She lied lamely, not looking at him in the eye.

"Tammie. I know you don't like asking for help, but please, it's just a trip home." He stated sternly. Now it was her turn to look at him quizzically.

"How _do_ you know me?" She asked confused. _He said he would tell me later, this is later._

He looked at her for a second, wondering how he was going to tell her, before he replied, "If you come with me into the Tardis, I'll explain... as much as I can anyway." She stared at him for a second and thought about saying no a second time, before she had another head rush.

"Yeah, okay." She said, as she grabbed her head, and closed her eyes. The Doctor guided her in, and as she opened her eyes, she couldn't believe what she was seeing. "Oh... Wow. This is... This is..." She looked over to him, as he smirked. He forgot this was the first time she had been in the sentient machine. She laughed slightly, before saying those oh, so famous words, "It's bigger on the inside... Oh, she's beautiful..." She stated, as she walked slowly closer to the console and glanced all around her, spinning in a slow circle. The Tardis hummed in appreciation. It was a weird thought, but it felt like home. "I think this is the biggest smile I've ever had." She looked at the Doctor again, who gave her a grin.

"Take a seat before you faint again. And, uh, could you give me your address?" She did as he said, still smiling and giddy, and then they were off. He moved around the console, pushing buttons and flicking switches, she had to hold on to the jump-seat tightly as it took off, and after a few seconds he sat down beside her. "Here we are. Back home." He said with a grin. Hers though slowly faded. _Yeah, back home. Back to normality._ "Tammie? Everything okay?" He asked with concern.

She stood up suddenly and decided that she should leave before he asked more questions. She could deal with not knowing how he knew her, she'd obviously find out eventually. "Yeah, I'm fine. I should get going. Thanks for the lift." She hadn't gotten far though, just a few steps towards the door, before a hand was placed on her shoulder.

The Doctor moved so he was in front of her, but she didn't look at him. "Tammie, wha-" He paused as he took in her face, "You're scared... Why are you scared?"

She could feel the tears gathering in her eyes as he asked that. _I...I... I don't... Why does he care? No. No, don't you dare! Don't you dare cry, you've done enough crying! Just leave. Go out those doors and forget about today. Forget that you had an amazing adventure, and that you had fun, and laughed, and smiled. Forget it and get on with your life. You're miserable, boring life, on your own. That's what you deserve. She died because of you! Why should you be happy? You're best friend is dead! That thing was after you, but_ she _was the one who died! Go back to reality! He doesn't care, why would he? You don't even know him!_ She couldn't help all of those negative thoughts from happening, she had kept it inside for so long, she couldn't deal with it anymore. Today she had seen a glimpse of herself. The version of herself before Alyssa died. The happy, childish, fun loving, caring, goofy, girl she was. She didn't want to go back to being that sad and depressed person, with no one around but her own thoughts. She just wanted to be Tammie again... She wanted Alyssa there with her again... The dam broke; one tear started to fall after the other, and the Doctor just held her.

He rubbed circles into her back and began to whisper to her. "Hey, hey, it's okay. It's okay, Tammie. Let it out." He rested his head on hers, with furrowed brows, wondering what got her so upset, but then he remembered what the older version of her had said.

* * *

 _'The next time you'll see me, it'll be when I first met you. A long while before what's happening now happens. I just want you to know that, I'm quite different from who I am now... I lost the only person I was close to back then, and I didn't have anybody else... Her name was Alyssa. Alyssa Winters.' And with that she gave him a smile and zapped off, appearing back in that white room that she called Hell._

* * *

"Is this about Alyssa?" He whispered. She froze in his arms, her hands grabbed his jacket more tightly, and he second guessed himself. She didn't know him like he knew her yet. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, but you told me her name. The future you, a few years older than you are now. It's complicated but... for some reason in your future, you time travel back to me. You're only there for a few minutes before you go, but the last time I saw you, you said that you lost someone... Alyssa Winters. That's how I know you." He slowly let go of her, and she looked up at him with confusion and sadness in her eyes.

"W-why do I do that? I-I mean why would I just... pop in for a few minutes and then go away?" She asked after a minute, still calming down.

He stared at her for a moment, running his hand through his hair in slight frustration, not at her, but at the situation in her future. He didn't know where he was when what happened to her happened, but he didn't like it one bit. "I-I can't tell you... I'm sorry Tammie, but if I do, then it could cause a paradox. Even what I just told you was dangerous." It could technically, but that wasn't the only reason he didn't want to tell her. In all honesty, he was terrified about what would happen to her in her future. Terrified of what he does to get her into that situation. He thought that he obviously would do/did something to get her into that situation, but that wasn't the case at all. It wasn't his fault.

She nodded in understanding, "It's okay, I get it. I've watched and read enough sci-fi stuff to know that you don't mess with things like that." She smiled slightly, before explaining her side of the story, as she sat back down, "Aly... Alyssa was my best friend. She saved my life." She glanced at the Doctor who was leaning against the console, before staring down at her hands, "I don't know if you were there or not, but eight months ago-" She took a deep breath before she continued, "Eight months ago Earth had moved, and there were a bunch of planets in the sky. There were these... aliens, Daleks... One of them smashed through our flat window and said my name, said that I knew you, and... it raised its weapon at me, but Aly jumped in front of me and she... That thing killed her." Her voice broke as she said those last few words. "It was going to kill me, but it k-killed her instead. She was the only person who ever truly cared about me, but now... I haven't got anyone."

That hit the Doctor right in his hearts. He knew what that felt like. He was on his own right now. As much as it hurt him though, he couldn't let her stay with him. A future him, sure, but not this him. Not now. He knew he was going to die, and that the Master would somehow be apart of it, but he couldn't let her be there for that. Also, to know that the Dalek was after her because of him... he didn't even know what to think. She was there. The future her. He saw how terrified she was during it, but she never said anything... not about Alyssa anyway. He walked over and squatted down in front of her. "Tammie... I'm sure you've got someone." He said, grasping at straws.

She just shook her head, "I really don't. I never knew my parents. I grew up in an orphanage. The only friend I ever made was Aly, and her parents..." She sighed through her nose, before she continued, "Putting it bluntly, they hate me. I don't really blame them though." She said with a bitter laugh. "Everyone else I know, they aren't exactly close so... no, I don't." She sighed and closed her eyes in frustration. "I'm sorry, you don't need to hear all of this. You've probably got somewhere to be anyway." They both stood up, but before she could leave again, he hugged her.

"I'm sorry, Tammie, I really am." He wasn't just sorry for Alyssa, he was being sorry for not being there in the future, about the Dalek being after her, about anything and everything.

She gingerly hugged him back, and replied, "It's not _your_ fault. It's just... one of those things, that's all... but, thank you. Really, thank you."

He squeezed her tightly before he let her go and looked down at her, with a smile. "No. Thank you, Tammie Stanfield. For today, and for what's to come." She chuckled at that, before he gave her a piece of paper from his pocket. "Here's my number, just in case. Ooh and here." He pulled out another water bottle and passed it to her. He gave her a smirk, as she looked at him in shock.

"How does that even... Are you Mary Poppins or something?" She asked incredulously.

His smirk grew wider, as he replied, "What? They're bigger on the inside." She just laughed again and thanked him for it. "Oh, that's enough thanks, go on. I'll see you soon, maybe. Never know when your future self is going to pop up."

"Oh yeah, that would be bad if I met myself." He just smiled and they said their goodbyes, he told her to get some rest, and as she opened the doors to leave, she looked around one last time, then once at him, with a grin, and left. She stepped into the living room of her flat and her grin started to fade, just like his was, but turned around to see the blue box disappearing with that amazing sound she would hear again and again in the future. _Her_ future that is. And what an amazing, although terrifying at times, future that was going to be.

* * *

 **EDIT: It probably isn't edited to the best of degrees, but it's the best I could do so... meh.**


	2. Beginning of an adventure

**Hey, you. Thank you to everyone who read/is reading this. I'll try my darnedest to get chapters out as soon as I can, but to be honest with you, it'll probably be quite slow, then again, who knows? Psst, I do. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter but if you don't, that's okay too. Just thank you for reading it, if you did, and also thank you so much to the people who left reviews. They made my heart swell with positivity, and made me want to write more than ever, so thank you. :3**

 **EDIT: I fixed up a few details, edited and added a couple things, so take a look if you want to. (Thanks to the help of Olive. I've got a little note for you at the end of the next chapter, but before that, I just wanted to say thank you here as well.)**

* * *

As the months went on, she got a new job, moved, lost the new job and was now looking for another. It was the day before Christmas Eve and all was _not_ good. She had woken up suddenly, with a bead of sweat dripping down her forehead, just as another did that morning. She glanced around her room, confused for a moment, but waved the nightmare off. Though it still remained in the back of her head. She had the same nightmare the night before, but she couldn't remember it at all.

She had gotten up and did her daily routine, as usual. Ate breakfast, and had a drink. Had a shower. Brushed her teeth. Got dressed. Put her hair up in her usual high ponytail. Aaand flopped down onto the sofa. She bit her bottom lip in thought, as she leaned forward to grab her unsolved Rubix cube, that was on the coffee table, and threw it up in the air before she caught it. _That dream was weird... Or was it? I can't remember it._

She dreamt of a man she had never met before. Short, bleached, blonde hair. Hazel eyes. _Creepy_ smile. He was just... laughing. Like full on Bwhahaha evil laughter. It made her feel uneasy, scared even.

She grabbed her shoulder with a wince. _Why is it hurting more than usual this past couple of days? It's like someone's stabbing me, even though I don't know what that feels like personally... Hopefully, I never will._

She put the Rubix cube back down, after a few more throws, and sighed. Ever since the adventure she had on bus 200, with the Doctor and Christina, she had gotten on with life. She still thought of Alyssa every day, but instead of letting what happened, and every other little thing, get to her, she put on a brave face, and she lived. Her anxiety was still bad, but it was better. She was coping with it. That's what Alyssa would've wanted. She would've wanted her to be happy, and she was... for the most part. She still didn't have any friends, or anyone close to her, but she made do. It had been well over a year now. 17 months since Alyssa died, and 9 months since massive, metal, manta rays. She still thought about what Carmen had said to her. She still hadn't met her parents, but 'soon' could mean anytime. Within a couple weeks? Within a couple months? Within a year? Within two? Within ten? It just depends on the persons perspective and the situation at hand. _Welp, sitting around trying to think of the nightmare is just giving me a headache. Time for a drink, me thinks._

She jumped up from her seat and moved into her kitchen to get another cup of tea, when her eyes shifted towards the notice-board that hung on the wall. Among the other pieces of paper, small doodles she had drawn, and a couple takeaway menus, there was a small piece of paper with the Doctor's number on it. She had almost rang him a few times, but decided against it. One reason being she hated making phone calls. Whenever she _had_ to make a phone call, she would be pacing all around her flat while she was talking, and silently freaking out on the inside. Another was, what would she say? 'Oh, hi, Mr Alien man, I know you're busy probably saving people or whatever, but you fancy a cup of tea and a chat?' No. She rolled her eyes and began to make her tea. _Just stay calm and get through today. That's all that matters right now._

* * *

While Tammie was taking a sip of her brew, the Doctor was being escorted by Ood Sigma, who led him through a city that was carved in stone and snow, and into passageways, until they reached an underground ice cave, where multiple Ood were sat in an almost complete circle. The Elder of the Ood was sat opposite the free space.

He was chanting and waving his hand through the incense holder, that was placed in the middle of them. "Returning, returning, returning, it is slowly returning through the dark and the fire and the blood. Always returning, returning to this world. It is returning, and he is returning, and they are returning, but too late. Too late. Far too late. He has come."

The Doctor and Ood Sigma entered, and he asked him to sit down, "Sit with the Elder of the Ood and share the dreaming." He did as he asked, and waved, as he said 'hello'.

The Ood around him repeated their words, 'You will join' until he did just that, and linked hands with the Ood on either side of him. He soon let go though, as the familiar face of the Master appeared.

"He comes to us every night. I think all the peoples of the universe dream of him now." As the Elder spoke these words, the Doctor looked at him with an, almost, unreadable expression.

"That man is dead." He stated. He had to be. He saw it himself. He held him in his arms. He burned his body.

"There is yet more. Join us." He braced himself, before linking hands again. "Events are taking shape. So many years ago, and yet changing the now. There is a man... So scared." An image of Wilfred Mott appeared, him sitting at his dining table, ringing his hands together and looking ever so worried.

"Wilfred. Is he alright?" He asked concerned, "What about Donna, is she safe?" He almost exclaimed.

The Elder Ood ignored him though. "There is also a woman." An image of Tammie appeared, sitting in her flat, throwing a Rubix cube up in the air, before rubbing her shoulder in slight pain.

"Tammie." He stated, before the Elder continued.

"But we see two versions of her. An older version of herself. She is there twice." An image of a dark haired, woman roped up to a chair in a white room appeared, with her head down, staring at the white floor. Her hair was down, falling around her shoulders and in her eyes. Then a shadow of someone came into view behind her, and she slowly raised her head, to look at the person in front of her, with a snarl on her lips. Bruises and cuts laid across her pale skin, a lot worse than the Doctor had previously seen her. She looked like she was going to die at any moment. Her eyes... They were filled with hate for the person in front of her, but he could see the fear held within them as well. She was terrified, but she kept that on the inside. She was trying to be brave.

"What have they done to you, Tammie...?" He said sadly.

The image disappeared, and the Elder continued to speak of Naismith and his daughter, the Master's wife, Lucy, and that something vast was stirring in the dark. That those events from years ago threatened to destroy the future, the present, and the past. The end of time itself.

* * *

She woke up the next morning the same as she did before, did her usual routine, and started to look for a job on her laptop. By the afternoon though, she got restless. She'd been cooped up in there for about a week, apart from the odd trip to the shops to get food. She needed some fresh air and a change of scenery. So she did just that.

She got up from her comfortable position on her sofa, then decided that she would go down town and pop into a cafe. She put on her black, fingerless gloves, dark blue, long, coat, and combat boots, then headed out, not forgetting her wallet in the process.

As she walked, she thought of the Christmas before. Thankfully, there hadn't been an invasion like the previous years, but something _did_ happen. Her history teacher from Secondary school, surprisingly, came over. She said to Tammie, 'I don't want you being on your own at Christmas. _Especially,_ with what happened to Alyssa.' She didn't even know how she knew about what happened, considering she hadn't seen or spoke to her since she left for college, but then again, maybe she got in contact with Alyssa's parents. And when Tammie told her that she was fine, and she should just go and spend Christmas with her family, she just smiled. She even got her a gift. An original copy of 'The Hobbit', her favourite book from when she was a kid, and still was to this day. She had no idea how she got it, especially since original copy's of the book could cost well over forty thousand pounds, but she just said that an 'old friend' gave it to her a while ago and that she wanted her to have it. Tammie was gobsmacked, and a year later she still was. The funny thing about it was it looked and smelled _new._ She just said it was preserved well, and Tammie didn't question her. The thing she _did_ question though was _why_ she got her it. She remembered she had mentioned that it was her favourite book one time in one of her classes, but she still didn't understand _why._ She asked her, but she didn't get a reply, just another heartfelt smile. She spent a few days with her before she left, and she really was thankful to her for staying with her. Christmas was Alyssa's second favourite holiday after all, so it was especially hard for her. But her history teacher being who she was, made it easier. She still didn't understand her. She was a mystery to her that she never finished solving. She was very positive and protective towards Tammie, and she never understood why. All of her other teachers just used to ignore her half the time. She was a very quiet student, and with her anxiety in the mix... Teachers would be teachers, but not her history teacher.

When she had reached the cafe, she ordered a hot chocolate, _I deserve a treat,_ grabbed one of the newspapers that were atop the counter, and sat down at one of the tables, near the back of the building.

After about half an hour later, she had finished her drink and was still checking to see about jobs in the paper. She dropped said paper on the table and sighed, before she rubbed her shoulder. She looked over at her phone, which was on the table as well, and moved her hand over to it. _Should I?_ She picked it up, with furrowed brows, before she quickly put it back down, as she shook her head slightly. She rubbed her face, frustrated with herself. Tammie felt like she couldn't do _anything_ lately. She couldn't get a job, no matter how hard she tried. Even if she got to the stage where she got an interview, she wouldn't get any further than that. She froze up a _lot._ She mentally groaned, before she crossed her arms on the table, and rested her head on them.

As she was contemplating what she was going to do, the Doctor had noticed her after he finished speaking with Wilfred. He was just about to get up and leave before he saw her there. Wilfred followed the Doctor's line of sight, when Tammie raised her head, with a slight pout on her lips, and looked to her right. "Oh! It's that girl! It's Tammie."

Before he could catch her attention, the Doctor caught his. "That's the younger Tammie, Wilf."

"Eh?" He questioned, as he turned to face him again.

"To her, we've only met once, and she doesn't know who you are yet. Time travel, it gets complicated, but... what's she doing in Chiswick?!" He asked out loud, with a confused look, as he scratched the back of his head.

"Well... Maybe it's like what you said with the something still connecting us together, maybe she's meant to be with you now. You've got to have _someone,_ Doctor." He said, still worried about him. He just quietly hummed though, as he continued to stare at her.

She felt like someone was watching her, and as she glanced in that direction, she noticed it was the Doctor. Her eyes widened slightly, not exactly expecting him to be there. He smiled slightly, as did she. She also noticed the older gentleman sitting with him, and gave him a smile too, as he looked at her. She looked back down at the newspaper, not wanting to interrupt them, but less than a minute later, the Doctor sat down in the seat opposite her. "Hi... This is so weird. I feel like I'm meeting up with an old friend, but I barely know you." He smirked at that.

"I know quite a bit about you though." He said as he rested his arms on the table.

"That just makes you sound like a stalker." She replied, as she wrinkled her nose, he copied her with that action, before speaking.

"Yeaaah, should've worded that better."

She chuckled before she decided to ask why he was here. Not that she wasn't happy to see him. She was still confused about that. It was like, just him being there made her feel comfortable. She was hardly ever comfortable with strangers. "So, what are you doing in Chiswick?"

"I was about to ask you the same question." He said as he raised a brow.

"Just moved here a couple months ago. Your turn." She answered almost child-like.

"Looking for someone... an old friend." He replied, almost hesitantly.

She nodded in understanding, not wanting to pry any further, before she caught a look in his eyes, even if for just a second. It was the same one Alyssa had the day before she died. She was upset, and it was like she knew something she didn't. When she asked her about it, all she did was give her one of her most comforting smiles and said... _'Don't worry about me Tammie, I'm okay... and you're going to be okay too. I know you will be.'_ She didn't know what that meant up until now. She was always telling her she was going to be okay, so she didn't think anything was amiss, but thinking about it now... She only ever used her name if it was something serious, she was all about nicknames for her... Alyssa knew she was going to die... She didn't ponder on that thought for too long, however, because the Doctor had the same exact look, even if he covered it up with a smile. "Doctor... are you... d-?" He sighed before she could finish.

"How do you do that?" He questioned in wonder, squinting his eyes slightly.

"What?" She asked, confused.

He shook his head gently, with a small smile, before answering, "Know how someone's really feeling, or what they're thinking, just from looking at them."

Her lip quirked up, as she said, "Guess I'm just a good observer... Now that makes _me_ sound like a stalker." She shook her head, before continuing, "Anyway, what's going on?" She said, worried about him.

He looked away before he admitted the same thing he had just admitted to Wilfred. "I'm going to die... and soon."

Her faced dropped. "What...? But... You can't, I mean wh-"

He explained before she could say whatever it was she was going to say. "Time is in flux, so if I die completely, then that means that the future me you'll know... won't happen."

"Completely. What do you mean by that?" She asked, having caught that little piece of information.

He gave her a small smile, before he explained, "When I come close to dying, I can regenerate. I become a new person, everything changes, my body, my face, my personality, everything... But if I'm killed before regeneration, that's it." He glanced at her, with sad eyes, as he noticed the look on her face.

"H-how many times has that happened?" She questioned. She tried to hide the crack in her voice, by clearing her throat, as she shuffled in her seat a bit.

"A couple hands full. Why do you ask?" He looked at her confused.

"No reason, I just... That must be difficult... Dying, and then becoming someone different... I know I'd definitely be scared." _Seriously, how does he deal with that?_

He smiled at that. "Trust you to think of that."

She smiled at him, and there was a brief pause, before she spoke again, "How long have you known me?"

He exhaled, and sat back in his seat, "Ooh... A good few years... Long time... Don't know you as well as I would if you were around for longer than 10 minutes probably, but still... I know you pretty well." She started to rub her shoulder again, so he used it as an example, with a tilt of his head, "Like you rub your shoulder when you're nervous."

"Heh, or when it decides it hates me and hurts me more than usual." She stated, frustrated with it.

"It hurts?" He looked confused. _So I haven't told you that then, huh? That's something to remember, I guess._

She nodded. "Yeah, ever since I can remember. It's not a bad pain, it's just always kind of... _there._ Gets annoying sometimes."

He furrowed his brows, before he asked in concern, "Have you got it checked out?"

"Oh, so you're an actual doctor too, huh?" She asked as she raised an eyebrow.

"Kind of in the name, yeah." He said as he pointed at his face, with an amused smirk.

She chuckled, before she continued, with a slight pout, "Yeah I did. Alyssa made me. They said they couldn't find anything wrong with it, just that maybe it was a psychological thing."

"Hmm." He didn't seem entirely convinced that it was psychological but didn't say anything further on the matter.

"Doctor? Can you promise me something?" She asked, after thinking for a moment.

"Yeah, of course." _He said that so easily... I wonder if we make a lot of promises._

"If and I mean _if_ you do die, don't die alone... because nobody should die alone..." She gave him a serious look, and he nodded with a small, but sad, smile to his lips, "And when you get out of whatever it is fine and dandy, then come round to my flat. Christmas dinner on me... Well, sweet 'n' sour chicken, but still." She finished, with a smirk.

"Sweet and sour chicken?" He said, with a smirk of his own.

"Yeah, it was our tradition!" She said in fake offence, holding a hand to her chest, before she dropped it, and smiled. "A three-year tradition, but still... a tradition."

"Okay. Look forward to it." He promised.

"Good." She sighed slightly, as she thought of the Christmas's in the past, with her, "Christmas was her second favourite holiday." She didn't know why she shared that with him, but he didn't seem to mind.

"What was her first?" He asked curiously.

She smirked, before she answered him, "Easter, actually." He laughed slightly, as she smiled.

"The universe is funny like that sometimes." He stated as he rose from his seat.

They each said their goodbyes, and she smiled at him before he left, the older gentleman following after him. _Don't you dare die, Doctor... I don't think I could cope if you did..._

* * *

The next day was Christmas Day. This one would be a cracker. It started as any other day for her, but as the day went on... "Oh, my head..." She started to shake it side to side a little bit, as she stood in her kitchen. Images of that man flickered in her head. He was just laughing. Her head shook more and more, until... Well, she wasn't exactly herself... like at all.

* * *

In the Naismith mansion, a little while later, the Doctor was strapped upright to a trolley, his gag removed a short while ago, after a call from a certain red head. Wilfred, on the other hand, was tied with rope to a chair opposite him. The Master stood in the middle of them, in mid rant, facing the Doctor.

"What if I'm part of it?!" The Master stated more than asked, pointing to himself. "Don't you see? The drumbeat is calling from so far away. From the end of time itself! And now it's been amplified six billion times. Triangulate all those signals... I could find its source! Oh, Doctor. That's what your prophecy was... Me!" He finished, throwing his arms out at his sides.

Before he could slap the Doctor in his face and ask about the Tardis again, a flash of light appeared to his right. "Oh, sorry. I'm interrupting again, aren't I? I can see you're kind of tied up at the moment... Eh... Sorry, bad joke, lot on my mind." The woman who stood there winced, as she held her left arm closer to her. No injuries to be seen.

"Oh, well isn't it just _lovely_ to see you again... Miss Tammie." The Master drawled out, as he stepped closer to her.

"Leave her alone." The Doctor said sternly.

"What? Can't I even say hello? It's not like she'll be here for long anyway." He replied, briefly glancing at him, before turning fully to her again, with a sly smile. _He doesn't know how right he is with that sentence..._

"Yeah, hi. Now that the pleasantries are out of the way, do you mind if I have a quick word with the Doctor? It's just, I've only got eighteen minutes left." She said with a serious face, not really in the mood for the Master's mind games.

"Eighteen? Last time we met, you said you only had ten at the most." He stated, with confusion written all over his face.

"Yeah. That's still the case." He rose an eyebrow at that, with suspicious eyes, as the Doctor looked at her with sad eyes and a silent 'no' left his lips. Wilfred, on the other hand, moved his eyes from each of the people in the room in worry.

The Master stared at her for a second, then glanced down to the two devices she had strapped to her right wrist. One being a vortex manipulator, the other being a device he had only seen once before when she 'popped in for a visit' last time he tried to take over the Earth/Universe. His curiosity won him over, and he quickly grabbed her arm, as she winced, letting out a small, "I wouldn't do-" He pressed the only button on it, and a small, bright, sparkling, light came from it, and reached around her. All of her injuries showed. The bruises, that were on almost every part of her skin that wasn't hidden by her clothes. The deep cuts scattered about in random places. Her black eye. Her split lip. Red markings that made them think that she had been electrocuted. Then there were the injuries that they couldn't see. Her broken left arm. Her bruised ribs. And her mind. The mental scars she had. If she was the same woman she was before she met the Doctor, she would've probably turned insane, just like the man standing in front of her. All she could do was stand in the place she stood, though even that was a hard enough task. She sighed, "that." He dropped her arm harshly, as his eyes widened slightly, and stepped back a bit, obviously not expecting to see what he saw. _Now there's a look you don't see from him often. According to the Doctor anyway..._

"Oh my Lord." Wilfred almost choked out. She turned to face him, as a tear rolled down his cheek.

"Hey, don't you cry for me, Wilfred. Save 'em for the wedding... Happy ones, not sad ones, obviously." She said as she pointed to him with her good arm, with a small smile. He chuckled slightly, but his lips quivered ever so slightly.

"You're dying." The Master stated, still staring at her.

She rolled her eyes, "Good guess, Sherlock."

"Tammie." The Doctor called her name sadly, and she looked over to him.

"Don't you give me those eyes, Doctor. I'm not gone yet." She said, with a smile in her voice. She glanced around the place before she realised exactly where she was. _The Master, again... Oh!_ "Wait a minute." She turned to the Master again. "Right now, I'm out there as one of you..." She paused and looked him over, which he rose a brow too, before she shrugged, partially shrugged considering her arm, "Time travel... Weird thing." She stated, before she turned, once again, to the Doctor, and their concerned and worried eyes locked. After another pause, she spoke, though her voice was quiet, her joking tone had disappeared completely, and was now more serious, with an underlying hint of worry, "I, uh, I just wanted to say that if you don't-"

The Doctor cut her off, "Tammie, I will be there. I don't know where I was when this happened to you, but I will be there." She gave him a look, and he knew exactly what it meant. "The _future_ me. But if I'm not, I will sure as hell create a paradox if I have to." He said sternly, and she gave _him_ sad eyes this time, with a quiet breath of a laugh.

"Okay..." She glanced off to the side, before she continued, "But if and I mean _if_ you don't... It's okay. I'm scared. Trust me, I am _terrified_ of dying... but the times we had, and the places we saw, and the people we met... I wouldn't change one bit of it, even the bad stuff. Hell, I even got to meet my parents..." She grinned, "So just thank you... Thank you, Doctor."

"Don't... This is _not_ goodbye, Tammie." He said, with tears in his eyes, as he shook his head, as much as he could anyway, with him being restrained and all.

She just smiled, "No, it's not. It's hello... for the younger me... who has all of that amazing, fantastic stuff to come..." She reminisced, before she realised something, and her smile failed her, "Huh, I guess that makes sense now... All the time we were together having adventures, you were so worried about me, and I mean _worried._ I caught you looking at me with those big, sad, eyes of yours sometimes, and I had no idea why... but this is the reason... Y-you never knew if you got to me in time... I'm sorry for putting that on you, I really am, but I had to say goodbye. I know how much you hate them, Doctor, but I had to... just in case. I-It was the best... It was the best of times." She let one tear roll down her cheek, before she swallowed the lump in her throat, smiled at him, then turned to the Master, after a moment of staring at the Doctor, with nothing but truth in her eyes, so that he knew she meant every word, "And I'm sorry to you too."

He looked at her with narrowed, suspicious eyes, "For what? Why?" He didn't know what was going on with the woman in front of him, but he was intrigued to see what she would have to apologise for. She was definitely a strange one, and that was saying something considering what he thought of humanity.

"For what they did to you." He looked at her confused, before she spoke again, with a lighter tone to her voice, "Oh, and tell that _douchebag,_ and you'll know who I mean when he comes through, to get that stick out of his a-"

"Language... and spoilers..." The Doctor chided, with a small smile, tears still in his eyes.

She rolled her eyes playfully, and continued, "Yeah, yeah. Seriously though." She whispered, with a quick wink to the Master. He smirked slightly, as she turned to the Doctor once more, "Oh, and just to warn you... I can't swim." Now it was his turn to look confused. She beamed at him, as much as she could anyway, before she winked at him. "Come on, Raggedy man. You've got a promise to keep... See you soon." She smiled at him one last time, before she hit the right buttons on the vortex manipulator, and landed back in the white, empty, room... her smile faded and silent tears fell, as she waited for the Doctor to come and save her life, once more, or she was going to die... alone. _Oh, Doctor... Please._

* * *

After everyone was turned back to their usual selves, Tammie blinked a couple times and held her head. "Jeez, what the hell?" Her head and shoulder hurt, and as she peeked at the clock in the kitchen, she noticed it wasn't the same time it was a few seconds ago. Her brows furrowed, but it was short lived, as everything began to shake. _Oh, no. Not again. Please. Not again..._ She moved over onto the small balcony and looked up into the sky. There was a giant reddish-orange planet. She felt her throat close, and couldn't breathe. _It's happening again... No..._ "Oh, Doctor, please..." She was pleading him to make whatever planet this was, go away. She was pleading him to be okay and alive. She was pleading him to just make everything okay again.

She held onto her shoulder and the railing in front of her tightly, and just stared. She didn't know what to do. She wanted to help, but how would she do that? She didn't have to think about it too long though, as it slowly started to retract and fade away from the sky. She exhaled out a breath, that she was holding onto, slowly, before she let go and headed back inside. She grabbed her phone from the coffee table, and was about to phone the Doctor before she noticed the time and date. It was the next day! _Okay... Whatever... Got to phone him._ To be honest with herself, it wasn't the weirdest thing that had happened to her, recently. She sprinted to the kitchen, to get the piece of paper he gave her all those months ago, but as she was typing in the number while walking back into her living room, the wheezing, groaning noise of the Tardis could be heard, as it started to materialise in the room. She started smiling widely as it did, and as the Doctor poked his head out, she said, "Told you, you'd be fine. Come for Christmas dinner?" He winced slightly, and her smile faded. "Doctor?"

She put her phone in her back pocket, as she walked closer to stand in front of him, when he spoke. "I didn't want to die alone... If that's alright?" His lips quirked upwards slightly, but she could see the sadness in his eyes. He was scared.

She nodded, and quietly said, "Yeah... Yeah, of course, it's okay." She smiled sadly at him, before they both entered the Tardis, and he put it into flight.

"I've just got one more place I've got to stop by." He said as he landed. She nodded, not sure what he meant by that, but went with it anyway, and watched him walk out the doors, with an arm close to his chest.

 _He's dying... What did he say the day before... Regenerate... He's going to regenerate. And he wants me to be with him for that._ She smiled slightly, before it failed her. _I'm glad he's not dying alone. No one should._ A small hum from the Tardis made its way through the room, and it surprisingly gave her some comfort. She looked up at the big, tube, thing in the middle of the console, and wondered. _Is this thing alive... or is it just me?_ Another hum made its way through the room, and she smiled, as she moved her hands across the edge of the console, not pressing anything, but just admiring. She observed the details on the machine, and she felt as if she knew which buttons or switches did what. She furrowed her brows, shook her head from that thought, and moved her hands to her sides again. She looked around in wonder, trying to take in every detail of what was around her. She noticed the entryways and wondered what was beyond this room, but she didn't wander off, he needed her there, after all... _Why does he want me to be with him now, though? He probably knows a lot of other people. I guess, maybe, because future me is with him so... there's that, but... w_ _hy does he care enough about me to do that...? I mean, I obviously just appear in his past, somehow, so he didn't exactly have a choice of getting to know me, I guess, but... I'm not exactly important... Maybe he just thinks he has to deal with me... I don't see why him, or anyone else for that matter, would actually, genuinely care about me... There's only ever been one person who has, and that was Alyssa... I wonder what she would think about this... She'd probably tell me to shut up, and say... 'Why wouldn't he care? You are my best friend, Tammie Dodger, even with your quirks... You are a selfless, goofy, intelligent, caring, fantastic, person who has so much love to give... even to those who don't deserve it most of the time. Tammie Stanfield, he cares about you and you do not let him go. I don't want you to be alone. You're not good on your own. You need someone, even if it happens to be an apparent time travelling alien, with a weird sense of style. Seriously who wears those types of shoes... with a suit?! And a trench coat? Ugh! He's got great hair though... Oh if I was there with you now... Rawr!'_ She gently chuckled at the thought and imagined if the blonde, blue eyed, beauty _was_ with her right then... She would've loved the Tardis... She sighed, and leaned against the console, with her arms crossed, almost as if she'd done it a thousand times. _Oh, Aly-bear... How I wish you were here... I miss you..._

After a few moments, the Doctor came through the doors and rested himself against them. Tammie stood up straight and looked over at him. She didn't like this situation at all. Even in the small amount of time she had gotten to know him, she began to care for him. It was almost as if the moment she met him on that desert planet, they knew each other. In his case that was true, but for her... she just felt... comfortable around him, like he was a brother or at least a really good friend.

She didn't want to say anything, but at the same time she _did,_ she just didn't know what. What would, or _could,_ you say to someone who is dying. He looked at her, as he made his way up to the console, his hand gripping tightly onto the railing, before he stopped, and took his trench coat off, throwing it over one of the pillars, before he glanced down at his hand, which began to glow. He raised it up to his face, as he stared at it sadly, before he dropped it, and limped his way over to the controls, and to Tammie. He set the Tardis off into space, then turned to her. She didn't know what to say, and he could tell that by her face. He smiled down at her and pulled her into a hug, which she reciprocated. _I can do this at least. Aly always said I gave great hugs._

"It was an honour to meet you, Tammie Stanfield... as this me... and I promise... I _will_ find you..." He whispered into her hair, and she grew confused. She had no idea what he meant by that, or how to answer him, but he did it himself by pulling away, and slowly moving around the console, closer to the doors. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out, so she closed it again. Tears began to collect in her eyes, as he looked at her from where he stood, and in the most heartbreaking way he could, he said the words, "I don't want to go." All Tammie could do was stare at the man in front of her. A tear fell from her eye, as his head and hands started to glow bright, it was almost like solar flares were coming off of him, and he lifted his head up, and his arms out to the sides, the light growing brighter and becoming more intense.

Sparks started to fly, random fires appeared in certain places, and she had to jump out of the way of a pillar falling, with a small shout. She glanced at the Doctor, who was on her right, and stared as he began to shout himself, but not in _his_ voice range. It was then that she noticed his face... _He wasn't kidding when he said he changed completely..._ The light faded, and the new Doctor in front of her turned around, and almost faced her. She took this chance to get a proper look at him. He had brown floppy hair, that partly hung over his right eye, bright green, eyes and a biiig chin. _Jeez, look at that thing, he could poke someone's eye out if he's not careful._ She almost laughed, but stopped herself, as she realised he looked familiar... but she couldn't place how.

"Legs. I've still got legs. Good." He said, as he raised his left one up with both of his hands, and kissed it. "Arms. Hands. Ooh, fingers. Lots of fingers." He continued, as he looked at, and held, each part he said. She wanted to interrupt him, because of the crashing, but at the same time... It was kind of funny. "Ears, yes. Eyes, two. Nose, I've had worse. Chin, blimey. Hair." He paused for a second, "I'm a girl! No. No." _Wait. Does that mean he_ could _become female? Awesome!_ He put his hands up to his throat, as he looked around slightly, but he still didn't notice Tammie, who just stood there, still in shock at this whole thing, and the chaos of crashing. Her mind was going a mile a minute. "I'm not a girl. And still not ginger." He said frustrated, as he pulled some hair from his fringe in front of his eyes, so he could see it. "And something else... Tammie!" He exclaimed, as he noticed her.

She got a small "Hi." out of her mouth, as she glanced at the sparks that flew next to her. She was suddenly lifted off of the ground, in a tight hug, and spun around, as she squeaked slightly.

He laughed, as he spun her, and gently put her back on the floor, before saying "But there's still something." He said as he looked in her eyes. "Something important. I'm, I'm, I'm." He pulled away from her, as he tried to think.

"Crashing, maybe?!" She prompted, as another part of something flew across them.

"Ha! Crashing!" He rushed to the console, and flicked some switches, before pulling Tammie by the hand over to the small screen. "Who hoo hoo! Ah! Geronimo!" He shouted happily, as he looked up. She just stared at him with shock. _He's happy about crashing?! Then again... the adrenaline rush feels good. 'That's the spirit, Tams.'_

There were more sparks, as he flung his jacket off, and tried to stabilise the Tardis, but without luck. Tammie started to panic, as she fell onto the jump-seat, as something blew up near her, and sent her backwards, and the Doctor forwards. She didn't know how he managed it, but when she took a glance over in his direction, he ended up outside the Tardis, and she called out to him, "Doctor!" She tried to get over to him, but an explosion had her stepping back, coughing, as smoke came from the console. She looked over at him, and he had his screwdriver in his mouth with his torso inside.

He grabbed his sonic with his hand and shouted to Tammie so she could hear him. "Tammie, stand back!" She did as he said, as he pointed his screwdriver at the console and a switch flipped, as it sparked. He grabbed onto the edge of the Tardis again as he slipped, and Tammie sprinted quickly towards him, and grabbed his hands, as she looked out to see they almost hit Big Ben. _Oh, jeez..._ She heard him let out a sigh of relief and helped him up. He closed the doors behind him, as he flopped down against them, exhausted, as did Tammie. He looked over at her and smiled, "Thanks."

"No problem." She said, with a nervous smile. "Flying above London again, eh?" He laughed, with a wide grin, before another explosion had them flying. Tammie screamed as she was flung forwards, and the Doctor reached out to her before the same thing happened to him. She didn't know how or what _exactly_ happened, but she was suddenly in water. Another splash could be heard as she tried to get up and out, but she couldn't swim. She tried her best to hang onto her breath and thankfully didn't have to wait long, before she felt hands at her waist and was brought up, above the water. She choked and sputtered out the water she had inhaled, as two arms held her. She shakily let out a breath, her eyes wide, as the Doctor spoke up.

"Thanks for warning me about that, Tammie." He kissed the top of her head, which she didn't register, as her thoughts were elsewhere.

"Huh? Wha..." Was all she got out, as she glanced up at him. She then looked around where she was, and her eyes widened even more. "Wha... We're..." He smiled at her brightly, when she looked back at him again, but all she could manage was a dumbfounded look, as she held on more tightly to his shirt. "I-I... You were glowing... and then t-the crashing, and... Why are we in a swimming pool?! In a library!" She laughed nervously, and he noticed her eyes begin to glaze over before she fainted. He held her tightly to himself, with a smile, as he kissed her head again.

"And there she goes." He chuckled, before figuring a way out.

* * *

She slowly opened her eyes, with a groan, to see a back. "Don't look down, just hold on." _Oh, so it's the Doctor's back... Wait... What's happening...?_ Her arms were around his neck, as he climbed up... to somewhere... on a rope.

"Okay..." She barely whispered, still trying to get the days events through her head. She just closed her eyes, resting her head on his back, holding on to him a bit tighter, trusting him in whatever he was doing. She still didn't know why she trusted him, but she did. _'Just run with it.'_ Alyssa's voice flowed through her mind, which calmed her slightly.

He grabbed onto the edge of the Tardis, with a grin, and popped his head over. In turn, Tammie did too, slowly opening her eyes to see a little-redheaded girl, in a white nightdress, with a red cardigan and boots, holding a torch. She looked at them confused, as did the two at her. "Could I have an apple?" The Doctor said, suddenly, and the little girl furrowed her eyebrows, as did Tammie. _Apples? Why is he thinking about apples? Of all things? Apples!?_ "All I can think about. Apples. I love apples. Maybe I'm having a craving? That's new. Never had a craving before." He pulled himself up, therefore pulling Tammie up, as she protested a bit. Smoke still pouring out of the Tardis as they did so.

"Whoa! Hey, slow down before I fall back in there." They both managed to sit on the edge of the Tardis, and Tammie quickly jumped off, onto the ground. "Oh, sweet ground. How I missed you." She said, as she sat down, and leaned herself against the box. It was then that she noticed that they were in a garden... and they had crash landed on her shed. _Oops._

The Doctor chuckled, and the little girl stared at her, as he glanced inside the Tardis. "Whoa. Look at that."

"Are you okay?" The small redhead asked as she glanced between the two of them, concern laced in her eyes.

He moved his legs so that they were both out of the Tardis, before replying to her, "Just had a fall. All the way down there, right to the library. Hell of a climb back up." _I'm not surprised, especially with carrying me on your back. How did he even manage that? I mean, does he have super strength or something? 'Oh, you're light as a feather.'_

"You're both soaking wet."

"We were in the swimming pool." The Doctor stated.

"You said you were in the library." The little girl said confused.

"So was the swimming pool... Trust me, I don't get it either. Seriously, who puts a swimming pool in a library?" She asked as she looked up at him.

"Oi, what's wrong with it?" He said, offended.

"Uh, for starters you could get the books wet and ruin them." She gave him a look that said, 'uh, duh.'

"Well, never happened to me before..." He stated, a small smirk growing on his lips, as she rolled her eyes, and the little girl in front of her did the same. Though hers were more in confusion at the situation in front of her.

"Are you the police?" She asked.

 _Why are we even here? I mean... I guess we have to crash somewhere, but a little girl's garden? 'Oh, quit your whining, Tam tam. Just focus on the now.'_ Alyssa's voice, once again, put her at ease. It was something she had come up with to help her out whenever she was feeling panicky, she just thought of what she would say in the situation she was in. Alyssa, in life, was the only person, and only _thing,_ that could calm her down completely. Even if it was just her presence near her, she would be calm. Without her around... well, it was difficult. She had to find _some_ way of coping, and that was it. In her mind and in her heart, Alyssa was still alive in a small way.

"Why? Did you call the police?" The Doctor leaned forward slightly as he questioned her, bringing Tammie back to what was going on in front of her.

"Did you come about the crack in my wall?" The small child asked, with hope in her eyes.

"What crack? Argh!" The Doctor shouted in pain, as he fell off of the Tardis, and landed on the ground.

"Doctor?" Tammie called out his name, before rushing over to him, helped him into a sitting position, and sat next to him, with a hand on his back. _What do I do? I mean, is this part of his regeneration thing? Does he need some sort of medication or something? Did something go wrong? Is he dying again?! 'Calm down Tammie. He's okay, just give him a minute. This is probably a normal part of the process.'_

She took a breath, as the small child asked with concern, "Are you alright, mister?"

"No, I'm fine. It's okay." He said with a strained voice. "This is all perfectly norm-" He didn't get to finish his sentence, as a wisp of golden, sparkly light flew out of his mouth, and up into the air. _Okay... 'See, normal... Apparently...'_

"Who are you?" The little girl questioned, with a cautious look.

The three of them looked at his hands, as they glowed before it faded, "I don't know yet. I'm still cooking."

 _'Well, he is hot.'_ Tammie put a hand up to her mouth and coughed to the side a little. _Jeez, even in my head she's still a flirtatious mess. 'You know it.'_ She could even imagine her winking as she said that.

"Does it scare you?" The Doctor asked the child in front of him, after glancing at Tammie to make sure she was okay.

"No, it just looks a bit weird." _You're definitely right about that, kid._

"No, no, no. The crack in your wall. Does it scare you?" He asked again, with a smile.

"Yes."

"Well then, no time to lose." He jumped up from his sitting position on the ground, startling the little girl and Tammie in the process. "I'm the Doctor." He turned to Tammie and helped her up with a smile still plastered on his face. "This is Tammie." She waved a little, before he continued, "Do everything I tell you, don't ask stupid questions, and don't wander off." Then he turned around and walked straight into a tree.

 _'I think he just broke one of his own rules.'_ Tammie snorted, and the Doctor looked at her from where he was laid down on the ground, with a pout. _'Did he really just pout? Adorable!'_

She gave him a small smile, as both she and the little redhead asked, "Are you alright?"

"Early days. Steering's a bit off."

Tammie shook her head, stepped over to him, and gave him a hand up. "The house is over there, just in case you needed a direction." She said, with an innocent look, nodding her head towards the house, while she bounced on the balls of her feet.

He pouted again, and faced the right direction this time, as the little girl smiled slightly. She glanced at her and grinned, before she grabbed her hand, and they made their way to the door. If only she knew then and there, who that little girl was to her...

* * *

 **End of chapter 2, ladies, gentlemen and other configurations of being. I hope you enjoyed. Sorry, it's a lot shorter, I just thought that was a good stopping point... Maybe... I don't know. :3**

 **P.s. I'm fairly new to writing, so if you guys have feedback for me it would be much appreciated. As a wise man once said, 'Writing is hard.' I'll try to get better at it though. Also, there's the thing where I know how I want it in my head, but then when it comes to actually writing it, my brain is like 'Nope! I'm outta here!' Which I guess a lot of people who write feel, maybe, I'm not them, so I dunno, but yeah... I hope I can get my thoughts and stuff out in a way that you, the reader, will enjoy. Anyway, bye for now you lovely people. :)**


	3. Fish fingers, custard and memories

**Hi, new chapter! Sorry it took so long, had some things going on in my personal life, and then my brain came up with another fiction idea as well, so I kind of got a little sidetracked. If you would like to check it out it's called 'The Tardis' daughter' and it's... different, I guess, kinda. :3**

 **Also, a little note for you guys if you didn't know already, I edited a bunch of chapter 2 so if you want to, re read it, however, I haven't changed the plot _drastically_ or whatever so... Yeah... Allons-y! :)**

* * *

When the Doctor opened the door and stumbled up the steps, the little Scottish girl let go of Tammie's hand and entered the kitchen, the duo following after her. Tammie saw her go to get an apple and smiled. _Aw, what a sweetheart._

The two of them stood near the doorway, Tammie was rubbing her shoulder self consciously, feeling slightly out of place in a stranger's home, and the Doctor was quickly glancing around the place, almost as if he was searching for something. She could feel a few water droplets from her hair and clothes slip off of her and cringed. _We've probably left a trail of water behind us._ She looked behind them and sure enough... _Yep. It's not too bad but still, I'll ask for a towel to clean it up in a minute._ The small redhead walked back over to them and passed the Doctor an apple as she asked, "If you're a doctor, why does your box say police?"

Tammie's head spun around to him as he took a bite of the red fruit, "Yeah, there's a thought. Why _is_ it a police box?" She remembered that they used to have them 'back in the day', as it were, but never thought why the _Tardis_ was like that on the outside. It was definitely a whole lot different on the inside.

They didn't get an answer though, as the Doctor spat out the bit of apple in his mouth onto the floor, just missing the child, with a small cough. "That's disgusting. What is that?" _Is he serious right now?_ Tammie looked at him with furrowed brows in slight worry. _Maybe the regeneration thing messes with his head or something..._

"An apple." The little girl said as if it was the most obvious thing, which it was technically speaking, he did ask for one after all.

"Apple's rubbish. I hate apples." He frowned.

"You said you loved them." The little girl recalled as Tammie nodded her head slightly in agreement.

"No, no, no. I like yogurt. Yogurt's my favourite. Give me yogurt." He said with a smile and the little girl ran over to her fridge, picked up a small yogurt pot, ran back over to where they stood and passed it to him. He ripped open the lid and took a mouthful before he spat it out across the floor, once again only missing the kid by a fraction. _Ugh, you heathen!_ "I hate yogurt. It's just stuff with bits in."

"You could say that about a lot of things." Tammie muttered, glancing at where he spat in disgust, before looking back at him.

"You said it was your favourite." The child said, also with a disgusted look on her face.

"New mouth. New rules." He stated as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, "It's like eating after cleaning your teeth. Everything tastes wro-." His whole body suddenly convulsed and then he slapped his forehead with his hand, as the two girls looked at him in worry, their eyes wide.

"What is it? What's wrong with you?" The redhead asked.

"Wrong with me? It's not my fault. Why can't you give me any decent food? You're Scottish. Fry something." He stated as they both gave him an incredulous look.

The little girl went to go get something from the fridge and Tammie decided to ask, slightly shy, "Uh, hey, do you mind if I get some towels?"

She looked over at her for a moment, noticing that they were still soaked to the bone, and gave her a small smile, "Sure, they're in the cupboard down the hall."

Tammie gave her a thumbs up with a, "Thanks", and faced the Doctor. "Try not to hurt yourself, yeah?" She told him in concern, with a pointed look.

He smiled at her and patted her shoulder, "Always worrying about me, Tammie." He wrinkled his nose and wiped his hand on himself. "You're a bit wet, you know that?"

She smirked and patted his shoulder as she passed him. "That's what the towels are for, dumb dumb."

He stood there for a moment thinking, with a furrow on his brow, before he called out to her, "Ah, yes, smart!"

She rolled her eyes with a smile and continued her way down the hall. _Cupboard... Towels... Cupboard... Towels... Ah! There it is._ She opened it up and picked up three. One for cleaning up the floor, one for the Doctor and one for herself. As she did that, it gave her time to think. _So, it was Christmas, then he died and... regenerated. He didn't tell me he would freaking glow though! We fell into a swimming pool, in a library, in a spaceship, which is bigger on the inside. We crash landed said ship in a little girls garden, who is finding something to eat for an alien, who has known me for a long time, and now I'm getting towels to dry ourselves up with... Yep! That's a_ completely _average day for me..._

 _'I can hear that sarcasm a mile away.'_ Alyssa's cheery voice floated through her head as she stopped mid-turn, with a frown.

 _If you were here, you'd be freaking out too, you know?_ She thought defensively.

 _'Well... yeah, but at least I'm not in my PJ's.'_ Alyssa's teasing voice spoke in her mind, which made her look down at herself and she huffed.

Why was she in her PJ's you ask? It was Christmas, and she wanted to be comfortable. It's not like she had anyone over to 'impress' anyway. It _was_ going to be a simple day. Laying in bed until 10 a.m. Just relaxing for the day, playing video games or reading her copy of 'The Hobbit' that her history teacher got her last year, and just generally lounging about, then finally finishing the day off with some homemade sweet 'n' sour chicken. Unfortunately, _someone_ decided to escape from death's clutches again and make the human race non-existent for the day, but she wouldn't find _that_ out until later on.

 _Great, just great._ Her red and black plaid bottoms she was wearing had a few tears in them, as well as her black T-shirt, with a cartoon monkey on the front which was hanging from a tree branch, with the words 'just hanging around' printed on it. Thankfully though, her bright green, fluffy socks had gone unharmed, apart from them being soaked through that is. She cringed at the feeling when she wiggled her toes. _Ugh, that's the worst feeling in the world._ She shook herself when a chill hit her and finally made her way back to the kitchen.

She noticed the kid frying up some bacon, as she reentered the room, and frowned slightly. _She's at most about 7 or 8, so why does she know how to cook? I mean sure, teach her how to make cookies and such, but not how to work the cooker... She looks like she's done this a few times too... I remember doing the same thing at the orphanage a few times, only I was a few years older... with the same look on my face... Maybe her parents wanted to teach her early...? Speaking of, where are they? They can't be asleep, I mean, with the crashing on the shed and... we haven't exactly been quiet._

 _'Overthinking again, Tam Tam.'_ Alyssa's voice called out to her.

She pulled herself out of her thoughts as she passed the Doctor a towel, who came up to her. He looked like he had just been glancing around the place as he had been earlier. His cheery face turned to a serious one as he studied her, still slightly vacant, face for a moment, "Are you okay?"

She raised a brow at him, smiling slightly. "You're asking _me_ if _I'_ _m_ okay when _you're_ the one who's convulsing and walking into trees?"

He simply smiled at her and nodded. "Yeah, course I am."

She stared at him for a moment, eyes darting from one of his to the other, wondering if he was being serious or not. No one had _ever_ asked her if she was okay, not sincerely like he just did anyway, the only exceptions were Alyssa and her history teacher. When she found nothing _but_ sincerity in them though, she smiled and nodded herself. "Yeah, I am... A tiny bit frazzled, but okay."

She really was. Her mind was still going round and round, like a Ferris wheel out of control, but she was happy. It was exciting and she hadn't had fun in a long time. Back home it was the same old things every day. She was stuck in an endless routine, which she grew sick of. The only excitement she got out of life was playing video games, reading or watching let's plays or art videos on YouTube. Not that she hated doing those things, in fact, she loved them, but she just felt as if she wanted something more, needed it even. This was the first time she had actually 'done something' in a while. She felt comfortable and free, as weird as that sounded to her.

"Good." He went to walk past her but stopped, when he realised something. "Uh, how about physically?"

She furrowed her eyebrows and cautiously asked, "Why?"

He fiddled with the towel in his hands before answering her, "Well, you did sort of... inhale smoke from the Tardis, yeah?"

Her eyes widened and almost popped out of her head at that. _Oh, no... Is that bad? Obviously, it's bad! He's standing there looking like I'm ill! Or going to die..._

 _'Hey, that is_ not _happening!'_

"Yeah..." She barely got out of her mouth, "How bad is that? I mean-" She started to ask, feeling anxious about what would or could happen.

"It's fine, Tammie, I doubt you took in a lot considering you're still..." He paused and had a forlorn look on his face. "Standing..."

She laughed nervously at that, not realising he was thinking about her future self, "Oh... yeah... that, that's just great..." She looked off to the side in worry as he put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

He smiled at her, though it seemed a tiny bit forced to begin with. "Tammie... you're fine. I promise. I wouldn't and _won't_ let anything happen to you." Little did she know that he didn't just mean about the smoke. He was going to do everything he could to stop what was supposed to happen, from happening. He had to. He looked her in the eyes and she could tell he was telling the truth, which calmed her down slightly. "When the Tardis has finished rebuilding, I'll look you over properly in the med bay, but before then just tell me if you feel... odd." He cringed slightly at his wording.

Okay, calm equals gone. "Odd... What do you mean by 'odd'?" She paused as she thought. "Is that stuff going to turn me into an alien or something?!"

He laughed and smiled at her. "No, of course, it's not going to turn you into an alien..." His face suddenly turned mischievous, "Not _that_ kind of smoke anyway." Her eyes widened even further and her mouth opened to retort, as he started chuckling, "I'm kidding! You're fine." He gave her a reassuring pat on her shoulder, with a grin.

She sighed before coming up with the most amazing comeback in all of existence, "Yeah, okay, laugh it up... Martian boy..." Her nose wrinkled, maybe not the best comeback, considering she knew he wasn't from Mars... Unless TimeLords came from Mars, but she very much doubted it.

He opened and closed his mouth a couple times before replying, "I'm not a Martian, they look completely different!" He said in defiance. "Why does everybody think I'm a Martian?!"

"Wait, Martians are real?" She said, shocked.

"Yeah. Why wouldn't they be?" He grinned at her, as she continued to look at him in shock, patted her on the shoulder once more before he walked past her, to stand by the little girl as she cooked, and dried his hair with the towel Tammie had given him. "Ah, bacon." He said with a smile, before looking back over to Tammie and grinning again, seeing he had slightly blown her mind.

Tammie placed one of the towels on the table, that was in the middle of the room, after she came out of her stupor, and pulled her hairband out of her shoulder length, brunette hair, which caused a small amount of water to splash onto the floor. "Eww." She laughed slightly and grimaced at the same time.

"It's just water, Tammie." The Doctor smirked, as the child glanced at her over her shoulder, with a small smile, before turning back to the pan.

"Yeah, I know, but the 'sploosh' sound it made... Bleh." She made a disgusted sound as she stuck her tongue out, which made the little girl giggle slightly. She dried her hair with the towel as much as she could, and she could hear the Doctor and the kid chuckling as they looked at the state she was in. "What?" He pointed at her hair and she glanced up as if she could see what they were looking at. Her hair was like a birds nest, in simple terms. She realised that it must have looked like a mess and smiled as she flattened it out and tried to tame it, as much as she could without a hair brush anyway. "Yeah, well, at least I don't have yogurt on my chin." She said teasingly, as she put her hair back into its normal ponytail state. His eyes widened and he quickly rubbed his chin with the towel and a 'bleh' of his own. She chuckled as the small Scottish child went to get a plate and cutlery for the bacon. When she placed the knife and fork on the table and the Doctor sat down, she spoke again, still drying herself, "I realised something when I was out in the hall."

"Yeah, what's that?" He said doing the same before placing the towel down on the table.

"I'm still in my PJ's."

He looked her up and down, as if realising that himself, before answering her with a humorous tone, "Yes. Yes, you are. So is she." He pointed towards the little girl with his fork, as she came over with a plate of bacon for him.

She nodded with a small smile, "Yeah," she glanced at her and grinned, "PJ party, huh?" The kid smiled back at her and shook her head, saying that she liked her shirt, before placing the bacon in front of the Doctor and sitting opposite him. As she did, Tammie grabbed the other towel and bent down to begin wiping up the water and... spat out yogurt on the floor, with a small grimace. _Gross._

He ate some and as he chewed, he had a pleased face, which the little girl chuckled at, before he winced like there was a lemon in his mouth, taking it out as quickly as he could, and throwing it on the plate. "Bacon. That's bacon. Are you trying to poison me?" He accused her, as he leaned forward ever so slightly. Tammie popped her head up, above the table, to look at him with a brow raised, before sharing a look with the child. _Who the hell doesn't like bacon?! I mean obviously apart from vegetarians, vegans, if it's apart of a persons religion and people who are allergic to it, but still! Also, where would she get poison from? She's 7.. ish.. Unless certain foods are actually poison to him, considering he's an alien..._

 _'Ranting!'_ Head voice Alyssa exclaimed.

 _Yeah, yeah._ Tammie thought as she rolled her eyes.

As the little girl cooked something else up for him, she continued to clean up the water off the floor leading to the door. "Ah, you see? Beans." She heard him say as she entered the kitchen, putting the towel on the table again. After he tried said beans, he rushed to the sink and spat them out. _Ugh, well, at least he spat in the sink this time._ The two girls shared a disgusted grimace as he turned around to face them. "Beans are evil. Bad, bad beans." _Well I mean, I don't like beans either but I wouldn't say they were_ evil. _Then again... Yeah... They're pretty disgusting._

The child had a thoughtful look on her face before she went over to make something else, and the Doctor sat back down and ran a hand down his face. Before she could see if he was okay, the little girl had come back over and sat down opposite him again, while Tammie stayed where she was, standing off to the side, with a faint smile on her lips, she was beginning to feel more comfortable here by the second. She wasn't usually a 'kid person', but this one seemed to be okay in her books. "Bread and butter. Now you're talking." She passed the plate over to him, across the table. He took one bite before his eyes widened and he shot up from his seat, the chair almost falling over in the process, and ran straight past Tammie towards the door. She looked at the kid in surprise as they heard him shout, "And stay out!", and as he did, they also heard a cat screech.

"I... I think he just hit a cat with a slice of bread..." _There's something you don't say every day._ "Wasn't yours, was it...?" She asked after she shook her head out of... amazement? Shock? She didn't know. The small redhead shook her head slowly, her own eyes wide, and Tammie nodded quickly, "Good... Good."

When the Doctor had walked back to the kitchen, he looked Tammie in the eyes while he stated, "Never and I mean _never_ eat bread and butter... It's a terrible experience." She tried to keep in a laugh, that was bubbling in the back of her throat, as she nodded. _His face!_ He looked genuinely upset that he had tasted bread and butter. He started to pace, after giving her a sad pout, and the little girl went over to the fridge again with a determined look.

 _'Aw, it's like her personal mission to find something he would like.'_ She smiled and shook her head slightly. She kind of reminded her of herself when she was around her age. Definitely braver though. When Tammie was young she was even too scared to talk at times, she just got on with what she had to do, be it homework or just playing with her toys. She was a very quiet child, so no one really noticed her, she just kind of faded into the background. The adults at the orphanage always tried to get her to talk and interact with the other kids more, but they eventually just gave up and let her do her own thing.

It wasn't until the first year of Secondary school, when she met Alyssa, that she 'came out of her shell' as a lot of people would say. She talked a lot more, but still kept to herself if Aly wasn't around. She liked being on her own and just doing whatever. She didn't think anything was wrong with it, but to other people, it was. Not to Alyssa though, she always listened to her. She knew when she wanted to be on her own, but was always there if she needed her, and when she knew that she _did_ need someone there, but she said otherwise, she would stay with her come hell or high water. It was like she knew her more than she knew herself. She just knew with one look at her if she was feeling down, and then she would proceed to get her back up again, no matter what it took. Alyssa was her rock and, to an extent, so were her parents.

After what happened though... not so much. She realised, after a few months from when she met the Doctor, that the reason they let her work at their cafe still, was that she was the small bit of Alyssa they still had left, that was alive... That or they just wanted to punish her by reminding her that she was the reason their daughter was dead. It could've been either one, to be honest, and her mind definitely drifted to the latter more often than not, but either way, she was still here and she was hanging on. And with the Doctor around? She was going to be even better. She was going to be happy. She was going to live and help other people that were in need, like Alyssa did for her. Like I said before though, she'd find that out later on. Right now, she was focusing on the towels in her hands that she had picked up.

"Hey, kid, where's your laundry basket?" She asked.

The small redhead thought for a moment before answering, "Um, the laundry room is two doors on the right, down the hall." Tammie nodded before leaving the room. "We've got some carrots." She said, almost questionably, to the Doctor as she peered back into the fridge.

"Carrots? Are you insane?" Was all she heard as she headed to the laundry room.

When she had returned from dropping the towels off, they were both sat at the table, sitting opposite each other. The little girl had a tub of ice cream in front of her and the Doctor was eating fish fingers and... custard. "Funny." The child had said, as Tammie sat down at the head of the table.

He dipped another fish finger in the custard and answered her. "Am I? Good... Funny's good."

Tammie finally realised what he was eating and stared at him incredulously. "Are you eating fish fingers and custard?"

He looked over at her and took a bite before replying. "Mhmm, want some?"

She continued to stare at him before she shrugged and dipped one of them into the custard herself, with a content expression. "Sure. At school, we used to dip _chips_ into custard." She took a bite and looked pleasantly surprised. "Mmm, surprisingly good." She said with a hand covering her mouth.

He gave her a grin and the little girl questioned her, her face surprised but not all that surprised considering every other thing that had happened so far, "Really? _Chips_ with custard?"

She nodded. "Mhmm, tasty too. Though, that could be 'kid me' talking." Tammie furrowed her brows, thinking back, trying to remember if it did actually taste good.

"Oh, you should always listen to the 'kid you', Tammie." She nodded again with a small smile, thinking how Alyssa would've definitely agreed with him on that, as the Doctor faced the little girl once more and asked, as he took another bite, "What's your name?"

 _'Jeez, finally! How long have you two been in here? All that time neither of you asked her, her name. Shame on you Timmy Tam. Shame.'_

 _Oops._ She held back a smirk and finished her custard covered fish finger, as the little Scot answered, "Amelia Pond." _Nice name. I like it... Amelia Pond..._

 _'Might have to steal it.'_ Alyssa said connivingly.

 _I doubt you can_ steal _a name Lyss._

 _'Eh, whatever.'_

"Oh, that's a brilliant name. Amelia Pond." He said as he finished off the sweet and savoury food. "Like a name in a fairy tale. Are we in Scotland, Amelia?" He asked her, picking up another fish finger.

She sighed heavily before replying, "No. We had to move to England. It's rubbish."

"So what about your mum and dad, then? Are they upstairs? Thought we'd have woken them by now." She looked down and off to the side forlornly. Tammie knew what that look meant. _Oh, poor kid, I know what that's like..._

When I said before that Tammie never knew her parents, I meant it. She was only a few weeks, maybe a month, old when she was dropped off at the Greendale orphanage. Just in a white basket, that was made of plastic, with nothing but the white baby clothes that were on her, and a small piece of paper that was on her tummy, saying her name and nothing else. Just 'Tammie'. No last name. They had to give her one. The people at the orphanage never found out where she came from or who left her at the doorsteps, even after investigating for most of the time she was there.

When she was eighteen she left the place and moved into a flat with Alyssa, with some help from Rob and Ashley, and that was that. She never even wanted to find out who her parents were. She figured there was a reason why they left her there, be it they couldn't afford to have a kid or they just didn't want her, but she also never felt the _need_ to look for them. So she didn't bother.

"I don't have a mum and dad... Just an aunt." Amelia said sadly.

Tammie frowned and self consciously scratched her left hand where a birthmark was. It was on the back of her hand, near where her index finger and thumb connected. It was small and quite faint, but she always hated it. That's why she wore gloves most of the time. It was another one of her nervous ticks. She mostly did it if anyone was talking about family, as that little mark seemed to constantly remind her that she didn't have one, but right now she was just upset that the little girl in front of her... Amelia Pond... didn't have any parents either.

"I don't even have an aunt." The Doctor said, seemingly trying to cheer her up. _He doesn't have any family either?_ She frowned even more and he nudged her under the table with his foot. She looked over at him to see him giving her a comforting smile and a wink, still eating a custard covered fish finger. She smiled slightly, but when he looked back to little Amelia she stopped. _Well, this is a downer._

 _'Hey, three orphans are sitting at a table-'_ Aly started to joke.

 _Not funny Alyssa._ She thought sternly.

 _'Yeah, I know, I'm sorry, just trying to cheer you up, Tammie Dodger.'_

She mentally groaned. _I still don't know why you came up with that name for me. I hardly even like Jammie Dodgers all that much._

Head voice Alyssa just gasped, _'Lies and slander!'_

She hid back a small smile as the Doctor brought her out of her 'conversation' with 'Alyssa'.

"And she left you all alone?!" He exclaimed. _What?!_

 _'Her Aunt.'_ She informed her.

 _Jeez, that's irresponsible for someone to leave a 7-ish child on their own in the house! Especially at night!_

 _'Yep.'_

"I'm not scared." Amelia stated sternly.

"Course, you're not. You're not scared of anything. Box falls out of the sky, man and woman fall out of a box, man eats fish custard," He took a bite of his fish finger custard treat and then continued, "and look at you, just sitting there. So do you know what I think?"

"What?" She asked, trying not to look too bothered.

"Must be a hell of a scary crack in your wall." Amelia looked at him in slight fear. _Way to make her scared, dude._

"Hey, what about we go and take a look at it, huh? There used to be a ton of cracks in the walls back in the orphanage when I was a kid, they are definitely creepy. One time a bunch of baby spiders- " She stopped herself and shuddered as she was reminded of it. "Actually, I'm just gonna leave it there."

 _'Way to make her scared, dude.'_ Alyssa repeated her words.

 _Yeah, well, you know I'm not good with kids and things just come out of my mouth sometimes..._

 _'Heh, you mean like-'_

 _Don't make me think about it, Alyssa!_ She could almost hear her laughing, which made her calm down a small bit. She supposed that's where her arachnophobia came from. Though, to _anyone_ who would have to deal with that many spiders, it would be hell. _Ugh!_

Amelia seemed to take it in stride though, but when she glanced over to the Doctor she could see him shudder as a small 'bleh' could be heard from him. "You were in an orphanage? Aren't the adults there supposed to be angry all the time?" The little girl asked curiously.

"Eh, sometimes, but I don't blame them in a way." She was thankful to her for the change of subject. "There were a lot of kids to look after, and a lot of them used to mess about so, yeah." She shrugged. "It wasn't all bad there though." Tammie smiled at her, and she gave her one back.

With that, they headed upstairs and towards her bedroom, where the crack on her wall waited for them.

 _Wow, that_ is _one hell of a crack._ The w shaped crack reached along the wall starting from one end and disappearing behind her wardrobe that was against the same wall. The Doctor walked over and ran his hands along it, before saying, "You've had some cowboys in here. Not actual Cowboys, though that _can_ happen."

"Really?" Tammie asked, not quite believing him, _though he does have a time machine so, it wasn't all that impossible,_ she thought.

"Mhmm." He looked over his shoulder at her and gave her a content smile.

"Huh." _That's cool, I guess._

"I used to hate apples, so my mum put faces on them." Amelia said, holding an apple with a carved smiley face on it. _When did she get that without either of us realising?_

 _'Sneaky.'_

She passed it to the Doctor, and he said, "She sounds good, your mum." He tossed it into the air before catching it. "I'll keep it for later."

' _N'aww, that's adorable.'_

Tammie smiled, as he put it in his pocket and went back over to the wall, running his hands along it. "This wall is solid and the crack doesn't go all the way through it... So here's a thing. Where's the draught coming from?" Tammie rose an eyebrow, as he pulled out the device she saw nine months ago when he pointed it at Barclay's phone. He pointed it towards the crack in the wall this time, the blue light shining once again. "Wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey." He said as he looked at the sonic's readings. _Wib- What?_ "You know what the crack is?" He asked as he turned to face them.

"What?" They both questioned in harmony.

"It's a crack." _Thanks, Captain Obvious._ She thought sarcastically as they all looked towards it. "But I'll tell you something funny. If you knocked this wall down, the crack would stay put, because the crack isn't in the wall." He stated as he pressed his fingers against the wall.

"Where is it then?" Amelia asked as Tammie furrowed her brows in confusion. _What does that even mean?_

"Everywhere. In everything. It's a split in the skin of the world. Two parts of space and time that should never have touched, pressed together... right here in the wall of your bedroom." _Well then... not_ too _bad, huh? Hoo boy._ The Doctor leaned over her desk to press his ear against the wall. "Sometimes, can you hear-?"

"A voice. Yes." _Plus one for the dramatic voice kid! Voices, and cracks in space and time... What the hell have I gotten myself into?_

 _'Something funky.'_

 _Funky? Really?_

 _'Yeah... Why not?'_

The Doctor suddenly moved away from the wall and over to Amelia's bedside table, picked up a glass of water she had there and chucked the contents out of it, onto the carpet. They both gave him an incredulous look, as he walked back over to the wall again and pressed the glass to the wall and put his ear against it. "Prisoner Zero-?" He said after a moment of listening.

"'Prisoner Zero has escaped.' That's what I heard. What does it mean?" Amelia asked, confused.

"It means that on the other side of this wall, there's a prison and they've lost a prisoner. And you know what that means?"

"What?" _She needs a better wall..._

"You need a better wall." The Doctor said at the same time Tammie thought.

 _'Hey, you guys are in sync, dude!'_ Alyssa exclaimed.

He picked up the desk as he spoke, and, so they weren't in the way, Tammie and Amelia moved backwards. "The only way to close the breach is to open it all the way. The forces will invert and it'll snap itself shut..." He moved to be nearer the wall once more and said, "Or..."

"What?" They both said once again but more nervously this time.

"You know when grown-ups tell you everything's going to be fine and you think they're probably lying to make you feel better?" He said to Amelia.

"Yes." She said as she sighed.

"Everything's going to be fine." He reached his hand out to her and smiled. She held his hand and he faced the wall.

"Mind if I hold your hand too?" Tammie asked, slightly nervous about this whole thing.

"Of course n- oh." Tammie was holding the _little girl's_ other hand. She poked her tongue out at him playfully, and he did the same with a smile. He faced the wall again and lifted his device to the wall. Amelia stood behind them both, holding onto their hands, with Tammie in front of her and out to the side a bit, so she could still see what was going on, and the Doctor in front of Tammie. As the device lit up again, the crack began to open and revealed a dark space and a deep male voice repeating the words 'Prisoner Zero has escaped.' He took a couple of steps forward, still holding onto Amelia's hand and called out. "Hello? Hello?" He took a few steps back though, as a Giant eyeball appeared and stared at them. Well, of course, it stared at them... it was an eye. Just an eye. Tammie's own eyes widened at the sight and her mouth opened in complete shock.

"What's that?" Amelia asked, she seemed slightly freaked out by it but was still calm.

 _Eyeball! Giant eyeball!_ Tammie _wasn't_ so calm. A bright light came through, hit the Doctor's pocket and he stumbled back a bit, landing on a wooden chair that was at the end of Amelia's bed. Tammie looked over to him to see if he was okay, and he looked fine. When she glanced back at the crack, it began to close by itself.

"There, you see? Told you it would close. Good as new." He stated as he reached into his pocket.

"What's that thing? Was that Prisoner Zero?" _How the hell is this kid so calm about seeing a giant eyeball!_

 _'Because she's a kid. Kid's are strong.'_

 _Yeah, but... I mean a giant eyeball?!_

"No. I _think_ that was Prisoner Zero's guard. Whatever it was, it sent me a message. Psychic paper." He said as he showed them a wallet. _Isn't that the same one he showed the guard when we got off the bus?_ "Takes a lovely little message." He opened it up and read, "'Prisoner Zero has escaped.' But why tell us?" He paused as he thought, "Unless..."

"Unless what?" Amelia asked, worried.

"Unless Prisoner Zero escaped through here. But he couldn't have. We'd know." _Oh, well that's just_ so _comforting._ He rushed out of the bedroom door to stand out on the landing, the two of them following after him. He turned around and faced them, who were standing side by side. "It's difficult. Brand new me. Nothing works yet... But there's something I'm missing... In the corner of my eye." He then looked out the corner of his eye and turned his head to his right, seemingly staring at something. Tammie furrowed her eyebrows but did the same. That's when she noticed it. A door. She swore it wasn't there before when they came up the stairs. Maybe she just wasn't looking properly. She didn't have too long to think about it though as a loud, almost gong like sound came from outside. "No!" The Doctor shouted and continued to shout, about eleven more times, as he started to run down the stairs. The two green eyed girls looked at each other before following after him. As they reached outside he sped up into a sprint. _Jeez, that man can run fast._ "I've got to get back in there. The engines are phasing. It's going to burn!"

As they caught up with him, Amelia said, "But, it's just a box. How can a box have engines?" He was knelt down on the ground, picking up the hook and rope from where it was caught up in a... watering can?

"It's not a box. It's a time machine." He stated as he stood up and then going to the side of the Tardis, putting the rope through the door so it would be safe for them to jump down.

"What, a real one? You've got a real time machine?" She said, not too convinced.

"Not for much longer if I can't get her stabilised. Five-minute hop into the future should do it." He said as he threw part of the rope inside.

She seemed to think about it before she asked, "Can I come?"

"Not safe in here. Not yet." He said as he tied the rope to the other door. He glanced at Tammie and saw she was a little bit nervous.

"Uh..." She started to say before he grabbed her hand in a comforting hold.

"We'll be fine, I promise." He whispered to her with a reassuring smile.

"What about the smoke?" She asked quietly.

"Well, you _seem_ fine so-"

"You _said_ I was fine!" She whisper-shouted with a pout.

"Yeah, and I meant it, look at you, you're fine!" His eyes seemed to look like he was thinking about something else, and she furrowed her brows once more before he continued, "You're alive and you're perfectly okay!" He said excitedly, before giving her a quick kiss on her forehead. He turned to face Amelia, as Tammie blushed slightly, it had been over a year since she had friendly contact like that, so she wasn't all that used to it. "Five minutes. Give us five minutes, we'll be right back." He pulled Tammie's hand he was still holding and helped her up onto the edge of the Tardis. She looked down into the sentient machine and gulped.

"People always say that." Amelia said sadly. The Doctor and Tammie both looked over to her and she frowned, as he went over to her.

"Am I people? Do I even look like people? Trust me. I'm the Doctor." They smiled at each other and then he went back over to the Tardis and hopped up, sitting next to Tammie. She could see Amelia smiling widely and smiled widely herself as she looked at her. The Doctor looked over to Tammie and said, "You ready?" as he put an arm around her waist so they would fall together, and he could easily get her out of the water when they fell.

She gave him a shy smile, "Nope." She glanced one last time to the little redhead and then back at him with a grin.

He grinned back at her and then at Amelia, before they both jumped in, "Geronimo!"

"Ahhh!" Tammie shouted on the fall down, before they landed into the pool again. They quickly got out and headed towards the control room. On the way there, the Tardis had dropped two handkerchiefs from the ceiling, into their hands, which they put over their mouths to stop from breathing in the smoke, but they still spluttered their way there. Her eyes were wide the entire time, trying not to worry about this situation but kind of failing, even as the Doctor pulled her along the short distance they had to go, the Tardis moving the room closer to them, even in her current state. Thankfully it was hot enough in there that their clothes and hair dried. As they got there, and the Doctor pushed buttons and pulled levers, Tammie could feel a weird sensation in her left shoulder. It felt... tingly... like energy or something. "Uh, Doctor?"

"That's it!" He shouted as he pulled the handkerchief away from him, before quickly putting it back near his mouth, coughing.

She went to call out to him again, but a pair of socks landing on her head stopped her. She grabbed them and looked at them quizzically, before looking up at the ceiling. "Oh, uh, thank you?" Her clothes may have been dry but her socks were kind of soaked through. The Tardis didn't want her to catch a cold.

He glanced over to her, as she put them in her other back pocket, that didn't contain her, now broken, phone, for later, "Yes, right, sentient machine, telepathic and a total sweetheart." He grinned behind the cloth, as he continued hitting buttons. Her eyes widened a small bit as she nodded slowly. He paused, before he glanced back at her while trying to stabilise the Tardis at the same time. "Why do you have back pockets on your pyjama bottoms? That's a bit uncommon isn't it?"

She paused herself, before answering him with a question of her own, "Why do you have a swimming pool in your library?"

"...Fair enough." He stated, with amusement in his eyes, after a moment. When he landed the Tardis, he grabbed her hand once again and led her outside. "Amelia!" He shouted as he closed the door behind them, coughing into his handkerchief. _Wait... it's day time... I think you might've gone a bit further than five minutes, maybe a few hours. I hope she's okay and didn't think we abandoned her or anything..._ "Amelia," He continued as they started heading towards the house. "I worked out what it was. I know what I was missing! You've got to get out of there!" When they reached the door, he pointed his sonic screwdriver at the lock, but it took a few more seconds than usual, as it sparked slightly. Tammie just stood there in worry, not knowing why _he_ was so worried or what the thing was that he missed, before he got the door open and they hastily made their way upstairs. "Amelia? Amelia, are you alright? Are you there?" The Doctor shouted in a rush as he started to sonic the door that Tammie noticed before.

She started to head down the landing a bit, heading towards the child's room, to see if she was there or not, as she called out herself, "Amelia? Hey, kid!" She heard the Doctor say something about Prisoner Zero as she turned the corner, and the only thing she saw was a flash of red hair and green eyes, before she was knocked out by a cricket bat.

* * *

 **Jeez, how many times did I type 'fish finger' in that part? 7! ... Eh, it seemed like I typed it a little more than that but, oh well. The sad part is though... I have never had fish fingers and custard... I know... I'm so ashamed. *Puts back of hand against forehead and sighs dramatically***

 **Anyway, I just wanted to say to Olive, thank you so much for your review! If you could've seen my smile... honestly it took up most of my face, I swear! I have taken what you said on board, like I said previously, I'm fairly new to writing so I'm still finding my writing style, and don't really know what to put where and how much and such, but like most things, it's a learning process. I've got to know what I can do better, to get better, so thank you for that! I salute you o7 see it's like a little saluting person! :D Also I look forward to hearing what you have to say for future chapters, and I hope I can continue writing in a way that you, and other readers alike, will like. Oh, and also stop it, _you're_ beautiful! :3**

 **Also thank you so much to EmrynSigma for your review! It also made me grin like a kid in a candy store so, once again, thank you! I really appreciate it and I just wanted to say I love your writing! The fictions you have written are amazing and you are amazing! I hope to hear from you again, possibly. :)**

 **With that said, I bid you all a hearty farewell... or goodbye, or whatever... See ya! :3**

 **P.S. I'm going to make the chapters shorter, like this one, for various reasons, so I apologise to people who like longer chapters/full episodes in one chapter, but hopefully, I can make it up to you by faster posts. Don't quote me on that though, my life is like a roller coaster at the moment, so I'm sorry in advance if it's like another month before I post another chapter, hopefully not though. :)**


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